Our Mission

The Youth Garden Project cultivates healthy children, families, and community through educational programs and the profound act of connecting people with food from seed to table.

The food we grow informs and inspires our educational practice, and also nourishes our community! Find out where the food from our 1.5 acre garden ends up.

YGProduce

We use the garden as a cross-discipline learning tool that connects kids to the environment and our local food system! Learn more about our youth programming.

Gardening not only builds soil, it also builds community! A garden nurtures many forms of connection. Learn how you can be a part of our community at the youth garden.

Join Us

A snapshot of our 2020 impact in the Moab community!

Volunteers growing food for our community

Youth served through garden-based education programs

Value of produce donated to local families

Learn more about YGP’s 2020 Community Impact. Click here!

Sign up for the Youth Garden Project Newsletter!

Never miss a "beet!" Stay up-to-date on community events, youth programs, and other garden happenings.

You've seen her before, and she's back!! Sarah fir

This week, YGP welcomed TWO new full-time staff me

This week, YGP welcomed TWO new full-time staff members, Nikki and Sarah! ✨💥😁🙌🌱 We are excited to introduce them to you in the following days and let you in on what motivated them to join our garden-based learning mission!

To everyone who volunteered, donated, attended an

To everyone who volunteered, donated, attended an event, or participated in a program at YGP in 2020 -- we 'carrot' about you! 🥕🥕🥕 Lots of exciting things on the horizon for YGP in 2021, and we're excited to share one with you later this week! 👀

Oh, and did we mention we met and EXCEEDED our Thyme to Give goal! We are beyond grateful, thank you 🙏

#GardenBasedLearning #SchoolGarden #UrbanFarm #UtahCTE #MoabUtah #VegetablePun #ThymeToGive #YouthGardenProject #Givebutter

Here's a snapshot of YGP history... the building o

Here's a snapshot of YGP history... the building of the sunken classroom back in 2000! Hiding behind it is another YGP structure built in the same year, too 👀 Anyone know what it is??

TL;DR - Help us inspire students to tackle the cha

TL;DR - Help us inspire students to tackle the challenges of the global food system by donating to our 2020 Thyme to Give Campaign before Dec 31st!

🌱🌱🌱

The global food system we depend on is, as many of you know, largely unsustainable. Thankfully, over YGP's 24 years of existence, we are delighted to have witnessed more and more people get engaged with food system issues, and involved in solutions. Here's the thing though...

Young people need to understand and engage with the food system if we want things to get better. And for that, the agriculture system needs organizations like ours that make engaging with food a hands-on, enjoyable, youth-led experience.

At YGP, we aim to give students a chance to log off their devices, dig in the soil, and develop an understanding and appreciation for food and the people that grow it. And we hope they choose to fill their "portfolio of joy" with growing food, or at the least feel like they have the tools, knowledge, and support to pursue whatever it is that brings them joy.

Our Thyme to Give campaign ends on December 31st. We hope you will consider donating any amount you can to support our work of growing responsible, engaged young people. Join our donor community on our website "Donate" page, or at https://givebutter.com/VC0gc3, where you can view our campaign progress.

🌱🌱🌱

Quote pulled from 'What School Could Be' by Ted Dintersmith, 2018
#Agriculture #Sustainability #GardenBasedEducation #FoodSystem #AgriculturalEducation #ProjectBasedLearning #HandsOnLearning

We would like to give a big shout out to our 2020

We would like to give a big shout out to our 2020 CSA shareholders for supporting our work--and eating it!

YGP's Community Supported Agriculture program is an important piece of our mission to grow food, kids, and community in Moab. In 2020, 72% of food not used for youth programs went to our 28 CSA shareholders!

In his final CSA bulletin, former Farm Director Gabriel wrote, "The CSA program has always been a solid anchor for framing our practice of growing food and is such a great showcase for how we can make an educational space productive."

If this is your first time hearing the phrase "Community Supported Agriculture," learn more about this local food model on our website at www.youthgardenproject.org/localproduce. And to get on the waitlist for a YGP share, email emily[@]youthgardenproject.org!

Thanks for following along with our team this year

Thanks for following along with our team this year on Instagram! Wishing you and your loved ones a restful and joyous holiday season 💕

Heads up that the YGP office will be closed Dec 24

Heads up that the YGP office will be closed Dec 24 - Jan 1!

If you are missing the garden in the meantime, we're sure the office kitties would appreciate a visit 🐈🐱 But don't worry, they are getting fed lots of food and have warm shelters to sleep in (even if they try to convince you otherwise!) #OfficeCats #SeeYouNextYear #Butternut #Pumpkin #LuffaGourd #SquashThemedOffice #CucurbitCatCrew

We are so thankful for the support of our @AmeriCo

We are so thankful for the support of our @AmeriCorps members, Olivia and Jessie. The number of students we are able to serve is directly related to their presence here in the garden, as well as the quality and breadth of experiences in which we are able to involve local youth.

As our Seed to Table Educator, Olivia (top middle) acts as the main liaison between YGP & Grand County High School, teaching electives, CTE classes, and beyond. She has done an amazing job so far at connecting with students and leading engaging, hands-on experiences with food (like the Scoville scale test pictured here!)

Jessie (bottom left), our Garden-Based Curriculum Specialist, is developing more consistent middle school programming, enhancing Garden Classroom field trip lesson plans, and researching & designing nutrition education programming in collaboration with GCSD's Child Nutrition Program. We're thankful for her creativity, especially in designing this winter's "Worm Up" at the Youth Garden afterschool club activities!

If you are a former AmeriCorps member, raise your hand or give a shout out in the comments 👇

#AmeriCorps #AmeriCorpsVISTA #AmeriCorpsState #Service #GardenBasedEducation #HandsOnLearning #UtahNonprofit

In 2020, we continued our partnership with @moabbe

In 2020, we continued our partnership with @moabbeacon, offering fun and enriching afterschool clubs at the garden serving 25+ students. Additionally, we organized three after school cooking workshops for middle schoolers!

Quality #AfterschoolPrograms have a wide range of benefits, including improving school attendance, increasing educational outcomes, and contributing to students' social and emotional learning. And that's just the start! Afterschool programs can also mitigate the risk of drop out and risky behaviors for older youth.

We love being able to share the joys of gardening with local youth and help them explore their interests, and look forward to more fun-filled afterschool times in 2021!

Source: https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/expanding-learning-opportunities-through-afterschool-programs.aspx

Follow on Instagram