Growing Gardens is a nonprofit organization located in Boulder County. Its main site is in Boulder, but its Food Program sites are in Longmont. On Tuesday, Growing Gardens’ Maddie DuBoyce, Food Project farm assistant, accepted a check for $5,000 from the Rotary Club of Longmont to continue providing fresh produce to Longmont’s residents.
Using regenerative urban agriculture practices, Growing Gardens grows fresh produce on two parcels of land in Longmont; one behind the YMCA on Lashley Street and the other is on the Bethlehem Lutheran Church property on Pratt Street.
Through its Food Project, Growing Gardens creates an accessible food program for the county.
“We try to get fresh, organically grown veggies, seedlings and seeds to folks around the county. We just want people to live with a more healthy and fulfilling life and one way to do that is getting fresh food to people when its not always accessible to them due to varying systemic issues,” DuBoyce said.
The nonprofit’s project partners with 12 organizations in Longmont including the OUR Center, The Inn Between and Wild Plum Center. The food harvested is divided among the 12 partner groups or sold at a discounted price at a YMCA farm stand, DuBoyce said.
So far the organization has served 5,456 people in Longmont by delivering over 10,000 pounds of food, 6,000 plants and over 850 seed packets.
In addition to fresh produce, the organization helps residents begin their home gardens by donating seedlings and seeds, DuBoyce said.
The Longmont Rotary Club discovered Growing Gardens while attending a nonprofit event at the YMCA. Growing Gardens provided lunch for the group and inspired several Rotarians to volunteer in the garden.
The Rotary Club donated $5,000 to Growing Gardens so the nonprofit can continue its efforts to promote food accessibility to Longmont.
