Moab Youth Garden Project Mission

The Youth Garden Project cultivates personal growth, self responsibility and community awareness in youth through organic gardening, experiential education programs and community service.

Our programs incorporate the following principles:

1) Encourage academic learning through hands on activities.
2) Develop practical, vocational and life skills.
3) Provide opportunities to serve and interact in our community.
4) Cultivate a safe and nourishing place for youth to interact.
5) Promote ecological awareness and responsibility.

About Us

The Youth Garden Project originally began in someone's backyard. Initially, one program was offered to the Juvenile Court for youth to work off court-ordered community service hours. In 1997, the Youth Garden Project received an AmeriCorps Grant which increased its ability to serve the community. As the garden expanded, so did the offering of programs. Additional programs that were offered by YGP included high school and middle school classes for science and community service credit, and a High School Apprenticeship Program.

With the addition of the classes and the apprenticeship program, students and garden staff felt the need and desire for the garden to be closer to the schools. In response to this need, students participating in the High School Apprenticeship Program sought out an area on school district property and designed a plot of what they wanted the garden to look like. The school district and community approved of the plans, and Youth Garden staff and community volunteers embarked upon the arduous task of moving the Youth Garden Project to its current location.

Today the Youth Garden Project sits on two acres of land next to Grand County High School. Programs offered are the following: High School Science Class, High School Apprenticeship Program, Canyon Country Outdoor Education (a partnership with the National Park Service), after-school garden-to-table classes for elementary and middle school children, and the Elderly Yard Clean-Up Community Service Program. Additionally, the youth garden project hosts several community-wide events, including: Weeds and Feeds, The Chocolate Lovers' Fling, and we will 'launch' a Pumpkin Chuckin' Event in fall of 2006!

YGP is an active participant in the local Farmers' Market Steering Committee.

YGP's Community Kitchen is commercially certified and open for rent! All you gardeners with tomatoes to can or entrepreneurs with dreams of selling your salsa at the Farmers' Market can now arrange to use the kitchen at a very reasonable rate. This kitchen will act as a community facility with regular cooking classes, rental opportunities for individuals and businesses, and of course YGP youth programs.

It is still early, and we continue to get feedback from the Moab community about how they would like see the kitchen be used. Some ideas so far . . .

Rentals for individuals, small food companies (e.g. salsa, tomato sauce, baked goods, etc), catering companies, and community organizations such as churches and 4-H who may need a larger kitchen space sometimes.

Cooking classes in the evenings for community members, partnering with the Grand County School District to provide nutritional cooking or related classes, after-school programs, and a possible soup kitchen-type program providing nutritious food to those in need.

This is not to mention the possibilities for the Youth Garden Project itself, where we plan to start a line of food products available at local stores and the Farmers' Market, as well as possibly starting a "kids' cafe" that sells locally grown fruit smoothies and other goodies.

If you have any ideas, or would like to teach a class, please call us at 259-BEAN (2326) or e-mail us at ygp@citlink.net. Also, if you are interested in helping us get the necessary materials needed in a commercial kitchen, please see our kitchen registry to make a donation.

YGP is very excited about this new facility and would love to show it off to interested community members, so please give us a call or stop by. Thanks!

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