Photo Credit: Sustainable Woodstock
Since our founding in 2009, Sustainable Woodstock has been dedicated to addressing our community’s food security needs. As part of this work, we run two community gardens at Billings Farm and King Farm in partnership with Billings Farm and the Vermont Land Trust. These gardens serve 30 families and organizations, offering plots to residents on a sliding scale. These gardens are organic and observe “no-till” or “minimal disturbance” gardening principles.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic Vermont saw a rise in food insecurity. In response, Sustainable Woodstock expanded our community gardens by 30%, doubled our Community Garden Coordinator’s hours, and established dedicated growing space at our Billings Farm Garden to grow vegetables for the Woodstock Community Food Shelf. We now donate hundreds of pounds of produce to the Woodstock Food Shelf each year.
Our Grow Your Own Garden (GYOG) Program also grew out of the COVID era, when there was a surge in community need for fresh, local produce. We now annually distribute Grow Your Own Garden Kits free of charge to individuals and families who want to produce their own food and increase long-term food security. Each free kit includes a complete set of quality seeds, seedlings and a beginner’s book on organic gardening. This program is open to families who would not otherwise be able to afford to garden. In 2024 we increased the number of Grow Your Own Garden kits offered from 75 to 90, feeding over 300 individuals.
Photo Credit: Sustainable Woodstock
Since 2022, we have funded raised garden beds at Riverside Mobile Home Park– a mobile home park with 40 residences along the Ottauqeuchee River in Woodstock. The Park flooded in Tropical Storm Irene and again in 2023, and we have developed longstanding relationships with park residents through flood recovery and cleanup. This year was our third year building raised beds for residents and we built 19 beds– our biggest number ever. We relied on the guidance and expertise of park resident and carpenter Dan Putnam to accomplish this feat.
We cannot achieve a sustainable society or environment without ensuring that everyone has access to the means to not only live, but to live well. Our food security work sets out to provide access to food– a fundamental right– while also providing free access to growing space. for community members. If you have time to spare, we welcome volunteers at our community garden workdays. Contact director@sustainablewoodstock.org for more information. We also gladly welcome financial donations towards this work: https://www.sustainablewoodstock.org/donate/
Written by: Jenevra Wetmore
Sustainable Woodstock is a part of the Upper Valley Resilience Network. Learn more about the Upper Valley Resilience Network (UVRN) and sign up for monthly newsletters by visiting the home webpage here!