Thursday, August 8, 2013

Grand Prairie Texas - Making A Difference In The Garden


The City Of Grand Prairie lies between Dallas and Fort Worth Texas. The boundaries of the city run through four different counties with landscapes that vary from Blackland Prairie to the Eastern Cross Timbers region.  This summer, I headed out for a field trip led by Tammy Chan who is the Special Projects Coordinator for the City of Grand Prairie. Tammy has a strong passion for green living and has created many initiatives to help educate and support her community in and out of the garden. In fact she is part of the team who works on the city's green initiative called Green Grand Prairie.
Keep Grand Prairie Beautiful




My mission was to learn all that I could about the garden programs that the city supports. Most of the schools in the city have school gardens. Many of them have plots for the community on their school grounds as well. These gardens are not only teaching kids the tastiness of swiss chard and zucchini, but also the sense of community that working in the dirt teaches.



The Community Gardens have helped seniors grow fresh produce as well as bring crime rates down in communities that were falling apart. Some gardens are on church lots and some on private property that the city borrows to improve the community.  Every garden has to give some of their harvest to the city's  Farmer's Market program that helps fund the green initiatives. They also practice composting, vermicomposting and recycling.














With incredible support from the city, Grand Prairie is definitely leading the way in North Texas with their garden programs. They are creating relationships with the community and the dirt. This farmer was inspired and impressed!



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