Cultivating Communities Campaign, Living Hope Farm in Harleysville plant the seeds to help Souderton Head Start

By Bob Keeler

A new partnership between Living Hope Farm in Harleysville and the Cultivating Communities Campaign will not only provide food for families with children in the Souderton Head Start program, but will also bring in larger growers for the CCC’s efforts to help low-income families and individuals have access to fresh, locally grown food.

“It’s our first truly official farm. Everything else has been gardens at schools, churches, community gardens,” said Gina Kirk, CCC program coordinator at the Health Promotion Council, which is funded by the North Penn Community Health Foundation.

The CCC is again this year adding to the number of those smaller gardens maintained by organizations or individuals, but is also expecting to add some more farms to the mix, Kirk said.

“We are focusing our efforts to bring the produce they already harvest into the CCC network,” Kirk said. “The first step is to get what’s already picked so it doesn’t go to waste.”

The partnerships also support local farmers and the local economy, she said.

At Living Hope, the CCC funded the building of a new high tunnel.

A high tunnel is “basically a greenhouse without heat,” Jill Landes, Living Hope’s executive director, said.

With the new one, the farm now has four, she said.

“These tunnels are just amazing in what they can do for our season in terms of extending it and weather protection,” she said. “We’re finally at the capacity where it’s easy to go year-round with everything we grow on the farm.”

Raspberries, strawberries and radishes are among the types of plants already growing this year and a lot more planting will take place within the next few weeks, she said. Other crops grown at the farm include lettuce, tomatoes, squash, spinach, potatoes, turnips and sugar snaps.

“Anything you can grow outside, you can grow inside,” Landes said.

Under the new agreement, 25 percent of the food grown in the Living Hope high tunnels will be donated to CCC, which will distribute it to the families in the Souderton Head Start preschool program, Kirk said.

“We are scheduled to start receiving distributions in April,” she said.

Things such as a field trip to the farm for the students, a family day at the farm, chef demonstrations and recipes will also be available, Landes and Kirk said.

“Anything we have for our members, we would put out there for the Head Start people to attend as well,” Landes said.

Living Hope Farm has been a Community Supported Agriculture farm since 2010. Members purchase a share of the produce grown, help participate in the growing of the food and receive a portion of the harvest. With the addition of the high tunnels, the CSA, which has only been available in the summer growing season, will also be available in the winter, Landes said. Memberships in this summer’s CSA are currently being accepted. Internship applications are also being accepted. Information is available at www.livinghopefarm.org.

“Head Start already does have a pretty substantial nutrition education program,” Kirk said.

The new partnership will add to that, she said.

Supporting local farms is good for the entire community because of the effects on the economy, the environment and people’s health, Kirk said.

“The ripple effect can go pretty wide,” she said.

Living Hope’s involvement in the CCC program also helps meet the farm’s message that growing food or making money aren’t the only things that matter, Landes said.

“It seemed to fit the idea of what we want to accomplish on this farm,” Landes said. “We didn’t hesitate to jump on board when this was proposed.”

From Bob Keeler. (2013, February 7). Cultivating Communities Campaign, Living Hope Farm in Harleysville plant the seeds to help Souderton Head Start. The Reporter. Retrieved from:  http://www.thereporteronline.com/article/20130206/NEWS01/130209665/cultivating-communities-campaign-living-hope-farm-in-harleysville-plant-the-seeds-to-help-souderton-head-start-#full_story

For more information on the Cultivating Communities Campaign, contact the Health Promotion Council at www.hpcpa.org or 267-773-4372.