Enter the Contest!

Mississippi Delta Community Garden Competition announced by Delta Fresh Foods Initiative

The Delta Fresh Foods Initiative (DFFI) announces an exciting Delta-wide competition, with a $500 Grand Prize, to promote and celebrate the church, community and youth gardeners who serve as catalysts to produce fresh food and a healthy Delta community. DFFI is committed to supporting these vital community growers and their gardens via the Growing Together project- a network of Delta gardens participating in practical gardening workshops, site visits to successful gardens across the Delta and in Alabama, and community potlucks. And now the DFFI Growing Together program is launching the 2012 Mississippi Delta Community Garden Competition!

The contest will run from mid-February through the end of August, highlighting the spring and summer growing seasons. All contestants are invited to the Growing Together network offerings, including a series of skill-building workshops beginning on February 18, and continuing throughout the spring. All workshops will be held in Delta community gardens, and there is no cost for attending workshops or participating in the competition.

At the end of the summer growing season, a panel of local experts will judge competing gardens in categories including workshop participation, community awareness and involvement, youth participation, maintenance and sustainable growing practices, variety of produce, and suitability of the plantings. Design and total visual effect are also taken in to account with extra points awarded for creativity and ingenuity. An awards ceremony will be held at the annual Delta Fresh Foods Harvest Celebration in October, and all Growing Together participants will be invited. The top three winners of the contest will be recognized, and the winning garden will receive a $500 Grand Prize.

The competition application deadline is February 15, 2012. Applications are available on our facebook page, or you can contact Ryan Betz at (601) 832-2785, rbetz@deltahealthalliance.org, or mail a request to: Delta Fresh Foods, Attn: Ryan Betz, PO Box 277 Stoneville, MS 38776.

Mississippi Delta Community Garden Competition Eligibility:
To be eligible to participate in Growing Together and the garden competition, garden groups must be located within the 18 Mississippi Delta counties and be maintained by three or more neighborhood gardeners from a church, community or youth garden.

Gardens wanting to join the network and apply for a chance to compete in the contest should contact Ryan Betz by phone, mail or email to receive and application. Please call at 601.832.2785, email rbetz@deltahealthalliance.org, or mail a request to: Delta Fresh Foods, Attn: Ryan Betz, PO Box 277 Stoneville, MS 38776. For more information on Growing Together, please visit deltafreshfoods.org.

Growing Together 2012: The first Growing Together 2012 workshop will be on properly planting spring crops and held at the Indianola Community Garden from 9AM-1PM on Saturday, February 18. The Indianola Community Garden is located between Jefferson and Oak Streets next to Carver Elementary School.

This hands-on workshop will be lead by Edwin Marty is of The Hampstead Institute community farms in Montgomery, AL. Edwin is also the founder Jones Valley Urban Farm, a non-profit, education and working production farm located in downtown Birmingham, AL. Over Edwin's eight-year guidance, Jones Valley has grown from a single vacant lot into a citywide farm with 28 acres in production that provides food to restaurants, youth nutrition gardening programs for thousands of Birmingham students, and garden plots for low-income housing residents. Edwin is also a co-author of the recent book on Urban Farming titled: "Breaking Through Concrete."

Background:
The Delta Fresh Foods Initiative started the Growing Together network in 2011, building upon the work of the Delta Health Alliance and Delta Health Collaborative in creating congregation and community gardens. The garden network learns together and encourages each other as they continue to produce food and engage their neighbors in the gardens. This network of resources, ideas, trainings, and fellowship aims to increase the supply of fresh foods in the Delta by cultivating a supportive mentor network to develop the capacity of the local gardens and gardeners. Participants learn sustainable growing techniques through hands-on workshops and by visiting developed gardens to learn best practices. For more information on Growing Together, please visit deltafreshfoods.org or contact Ryan Betz at (601) 832-2785.