About Our Gardens
Over the 11 years of this program, MHC volunteers, interns and staff have raised more than 15,000 pounds of organic fruits and vegetables. In 2012, MHC will be tending the Crestmont Community Gardens, the Banneker Green Thumbs Youth Garden, and the southern portion of the Ernie D. Butler Park Community Gardens. All sites are gardened in partnership with the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation.
At the Cupboard, we see the full food cycle many times over: We compost all our spoiled produce at the pantry, it turns into organic soil, which is then worked into vegetable gardens to help re-grow healthy food for all of us. Giving patrons and community members the knowledge, skills, and materials to start their own at-home vegetable gardens through our Garden Education Program promotes long-term community and family self-sufficiency. MHC not only distributes food, we also offer vegetable plants and seeds to patrons interested in home gardening.
MHC’s Garden Program hosts workshops in organic gardening and also offers a youth garden program. Become a garden volunteer »
All 2012 Garden Interns have been hired. To learn more see our internships and jobs page»
Weekly Garden Work Dates
April- October
Mondays 4pm-6pm at Butler Park Garden
Tuesdays 5pm-7pm at Crestmont Garden
Wednesdays 9am-11am at Banneker Garden
Thursdays 9am-11am at Crestmont Garden
Read below to learn more about each of MHC’s garden sites.
Banneker Garden: Join MHC behind the Banneker Community Center to tend this gorgeous, flower filled community garden. MHC’s Banneker site serves as an outdoor classroom for an after-school program as well as a neighboring youth serving agency, and thereby includes child-centered themed garden beds. Youth are not in the garden during volunteer hours, but contact MHC if you are interested in getting further involved in youth garden programming.
Crestmont Garden: From this teaching garden, fruits and veggies are distributed directly into the Crestmont neighborhood via an MHC bike cart. Learn about intensive small scale organic gardening techniques and building soil through sheet mulching, cover cropping, and composting. The Crestmont Garden includes a large raspberry patch and a 6-bin composting system.
Butler Park Garden: MHC stewards the southern plots destined for youth garden programming in the City of Bloomington Butler Park Community Garden. The Hub Butler site includes a 16×30’ hoophouse for seed starting, vermicomposting, and season extension.
