Our Mission

The Youth Garden Project cultivates healthy children, families, and community through educational programs and 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.

"Someone that inspired my love of gardening, plant

"Someone that inspired my love of gardening, plants and watching things grow was my Grandmother, Bah (she got that name because she tossed a ball to her 1st grandchild a lot and he would ask for the ‘bah’ (couldn’t get those L sounds out). After my Grandfather retired they moved from Albuquerque to a small development in the eastern foothills of the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque, where houses were build in rough, rocky regolith; it wasn’t really soil. Bah dug up their yard, terracing gardens with walls made of the rocks she dug out. She walked the dry, stony hills collecting cow pies in a tin bucket to fertilize her gardens, flower and vegetable, in that stony poor soil. My brothers, sisters and I all wandered around with her, picking up dried cow pies, finding flint flakes, hearing pinyon jays calling to each other as their flock flew over the pinyon and juniper woodland." -Tim Graham, YGP Board Member

Tim generously included Bah's Oatmeal Bread recipe, a favorite among her kids and grandkids, which you can find on our website at this link: https://tinyurl.com/2rfzxsbn

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

Are you a chef, baker, gardener, or farmer? Is there someone that encouraged or inspired you to start?

To celebrate YGP's 25th year of growing food, kids, and community in Moab, we want to hear your stories! So many people have been there to help us "grow" over the years, and we want to recognize many of the creative, inspiring, innovative, and caring individuals that taught us to garden, to cook, or to never take for granted the food that nourishes us.

Visit www.givebutter.com/ygp25th to make a donation in honor of a formative teacher, family member, or person who has inspired you, and share a little about them with the YGP community.

Each donation (for the first $4500) is automatically DOUBLED thanks to an anonymous donor, so if you don't feel compelled to share a story or photo, a contribution to our 25th Anniversary Campaign will still help us grow food, kids, and community for another 25 years!

#YGPJubilee #YouthGardenProject #Moab #25thAnniversary #Jubilee #Gardening #Farming #Food #SeedToTable #GardenBasedEducation #Soil

Happy last day of school to Grand County students,

Happy last day of school to Grand County students, and many congratulations to our graduating seniors! Wishing you all a summer of joy in abundance 🌞

YGP volunteer Brendan is one of GCHS's students of

YGP volunteer Brendan is one of GCHS's students of the month! Brendan has volunteered after school once a week for us all year, and we've been so incredibly grateful to have him around to help us set up for events, get the garden cleaned up this fall, prep beds in the spring, paint, thin fruit, and so much more.

We asked Brendan about his volunteer experience, and he shared that being at the garden was therapeutic for him. He said he, "always felt mindful at the garden and connected to the task at hand," and was glad come here for an hour each week. He also mentioned that he has been coming the Youth Garden almost his entire educational career, and that being able to give back in this way was nice.

We truly can't say enough good things about him! Thanks for everything this year Brendan, and we look forward to seeing you around this summer in between all your other activities!!

#YouthGardenProject #Volunteer #VolunteerUtah #Moab #VolunteerMoab #SchoolGarden

A few of our favorite dreams for YGP from the Jubi

A few of our favorite dreams for YGP from the Jubilee! #YGPJubilee #YouthGardenProject #25thAnniversary #GardenBasedEducation

Update: We are now taking cookbook pre-orders on o

Update: We are now taking cookbook pre-orders on our website! But first, here's a little bit about how the project came to be... Early this year, the YGP staff had a retreat where we dreamed up ways to make 2021 -- the year of our 25th anniversary! -- a really special one. One person threw out the idea of writing a book, and then more ideas came pouring out, and we knew we were onto something good. Lo and behold, we also found out that we had a seasoned e-book designer in our midst! 😮😃

Jessie is our Garden-based Curriculum Specialist and also, as it turns out, a phenomenal book designer! She's been our project lead on this celebratory recipe book projects for many weeks now. From collecting recipes from community partners, digitizing photos, typing up recipes, planning the layout, and more, she's seen this project through from beginning to end. We often joke that you never know what you'll find yourself learning about or engaged in at the Youth Garden, and now Jessie can say she designed an entire book during her AmeriCorps service year... how cool is that?!

Thank you to everyone who contributed a recipe, photo, or story, and also to everyone who bought us out of our first print round 🥰 We're beyond happy with how the book turned out and excited to share it with you all. If you'd like a copy for yourself or to gift to a friend, visit our website (link in bio) to pre-order a soft- or hard-cover version of Celebrating Past & Cultivating Future: 25 Years of the Youth Garden Project. Softcover is $35, hardcover $55. Shipping or local pick-up available! All sales will benefit YGP's youth and community programming 🌱

#JuneJubilee #YouthGardenProject #RecipeBook #CookBook #25thAnniversary #AmeriCorps

Come help us celebrate our 25th birthday party on

Come help us celebrate our 25th birthday party on Friday, June 4th! 🥳 Our garden-based learning organization has been around since 1996 here in the heart of Moab, and we’re inviting you all out to the garden to celebrate 🌱🎉

Free snacks, cupcakes, and delicious beverages will be there, along with the chance to meet our new baby bunnies (and other activities!) Copies of our beautiful 25th anniversary cookbook will also be for sale. We hope to see you at this FREE event to celebrate a quarter century of growing food, kids, and community in Moab 🎂

#YGPJubilee #YouthGardenProject #NonprofitAnniversary #Jubilee #BirthdayParty

"Every family dinner I remember started with a mas

"Every family dinner I remember started with a massive bowl of salad filled with all the colors of the rainbow. Before the main course we all had to finish our bowl of salad. "It preps your intestines for digestion," my Mom said. Her talents went far beyond delicious salads. She spent countless hours preparing and sharing wholesome food that nurtured body and soul. Her abundant table was often the venue for our family and friends to laugh and connect. Now, as I prepare meals for my family and friends, I am often inspired by her recipes full of veggies & so much love. Thanks, Mom."

Thank you @deswcole for sharing this lovely story about your mom Suzanne!

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

Are you a chef, baker, gardener, or farmer? Is there someone that encouraged or inspired you to start?

To celebrate YGP's 25th year of growing food, kids, and community in Moab, we want to hear your stories! So many people have been there to help us "grow" over the years, and we want to recognize many of the creative, inspiring, innovative, and caring individuals that taught us to garden, to cook, or to never take for granted the food that nourishes us.

Visit www.givebutter.com/ygp25th to make a donation in honor of a formative teacher, family member, or person who has inspired you, and share a little about them with the YGP community. Each donation (for the first $4000) is automatically DOUBLED thanks to an anonymous donor, so if you don't feel compelled to share a story or photo, a contribution to our 25th Anniversary Campaign will still help us grow food, kids, and community for another 25 years.

We're looking forward to reading your stories 🥰

#YGPJubilee #YouthGardenProject #Moab #25thAnniversary #Jubilee #Gardening #Farming #Food #SeedToTable #GardenBasedEducation

YGP veggies making their way out into the communit

YGP veggies making their way out into the community! 🥕🍅🌿 Each week, or as frequently as we can, we put together and deliver produce donations to @seekhavenmoab, @mvmcmoab, and @fullcircle_intertribalcenter (not pictured here) to distribute to the individuals and families with whom they work. We've been running our CareShare program for about three years now, and we're incredibly grateful that we are at a point (thanks to our amazing supporters!) that we can donate some of what we grow to help local families.

If you'd like to support this important work of growing fresh, nutritious veggies for our program participants and local families, please consider a donation to our 25th Anniversary Campaign this June! The fundraiser link is in our bio. And if you're not already convinced, all donations are MATCHED up to the first $4000 🙌 Any amount makes a difference 🙏

#YGPJubilee #YouthGardenProject #CareShare #CommunitySupportedAgriculture #LocalFood

"My mom instilled a love of plants and digging in

"My mom instilled a love of plants and digging in the dirt in me at a very young age. I remember crouching next to her while she planted flowers in the wet New England earth, while I made friends with snails. She always encouraged exploring in nature and found ways to make it fun for me and my brother (and now does the same for her grandchildren). She would take me on wildflower garden walks, to a lily farm, the arboretum, and one year we made a big vegetable garden together with giant sunflowers. Over the years I found myself more interested in gardening and plants, and now it is something we connect over in our catch up conversations. We share what weeds we're pulling, what new plant we're growing, stories of garden critters. My mom is also an exceptional cook and has been a major influence in my taste for fresh, homemade food and the source of my own cooking skills. In this photo we are enjoying picking out produce at the Amish market near my grandmother's house in Maryland. We were cracking up at how mega the lettuce heads were! Thanks Mom, I love you!"

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

Are you a chef, baker, gardener, or farmer? Is there someone that encouraged or inspired you to start?

To celebrate YGP's 25th year of growing food, kids, and community in Moab, we want to hear your stories! So many people have been there to help us "grow" over the years, and we want to recognize many of the creative, inspiring, innovative, and caring individuals that taught us to garden, to cook, or to never take for granted the food that nourishes us.

Visit www.givebutter.com/ygp25th to make a donation in honor of a formative teacher, family member, or person who has inspired you, and share a little about them with the YGP community. Each donation (for the first $4000) is matched, so if you don't feel compelled to share a story or photo, a contribution to our 25th Anniversary Campaign will still help us grow food, kids, and community for another 25 years.

We're looking forward to reading your stories 🥰

#YGPJubilee #YouthGardenProject #Moab #25thAnniversary #Jubilee #Gardening #Farming #Food #SeedToTable #GardenBasedEducation

They're here! Heidi and Hannah, our two new Summer

They're here! Heidi and Hannah, our two new Summer + Fall Youth Programs Instructors, have arrived to the Moab Valley and are ready to teach and learn with the kiddos here at the Youth Garden Project 🦋🌱

This also means our full 2021 crew is here, woah! All four interns (third slide), two AmeriCorps members, and five full-time staff keep this place running at the height of the season -- summer! ☀️ and with help from MANY volunteers too 🙏

Let's give them a warm welcome to Moab in the comments below ☺️👇

#OutdoorEducation #GardenBasedEducation #Internship #Moab #YouthGardenProject #Nonprofit

Follow on Instagram