Celebrating Earth Day! Make your own compost at home with these short videos.

What’s one small thing you can do at home to help the planet this Earth Day? Start your own compost system at home! Composting closes the waste loop at our own homes, turning food scraps, leaves, woody debris, lawn cuttings, and other things you might otherwise just discard into fertile soil. This has tons of benefits, from storing carbon to regulating the water system to producing nutrient rich plants and foods. Save the soil, save the planet!

Not sure where to start? No worries!

In celebration of Earth Day, we’re back with professor Leon Malan in the garden with a short video series showing you exactly how to make compost at home. Through these videos, we provide step-by-step guidance, insightful tips, and inspiration for anyone looking to embark on their composting journey.

Join us in exploring the transformative potential of composting and discover how you can play a part in creating a healthier, more sustainable planet for all. Let's dig in and celebrate Earth Day together!

---

Part 1: Why Compost?

Leon describes how composting and building soil from our waste helps heal the planet in this 2 minute video.

Part 2: Build the compost

Leon goes step by step on how to build your own compost system using inexpensive and readily available materials in this 4.5 minute video.

Part 3: Making compost!

Leon tells us all the tips and tricks for making compost (that isn't smelly!) that becomes workable fertile soil by the next growing season the lazy way - without ever turning your compost - in this 4.5 minute video.

Thank you for making compost with us! As we’ve learned, it’s a powerful way to reduce waste, nourish the soil, and promote sustainability right in our own backyards.

Join our mailing list for more insights into how food, farms, and gardens help us all do our part restore our planet to a healthy balance!

40 Under Forty: Honoring KFH's own France Hahn!

The Kearsarge Food Hub (KFH) family is celebrating our own France Hahn as a recipient of the 2024 Union Leader’s 40 Under Forty award!

The annual 40 Under Forty Awards recognize young leaders making a difference in NH - and that’s certainly France.

France is a Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director here at KFH, and she’s been instrumental in leading the way in building the food hub from the ground up since day one.

France is always willing to hop in, lend a hand, and help get the job done. There is no task that she isn’t willing and able to learn and do on the job. France has done it all here at KFH, from any and every task on Sweet Beet Farm, to running Sweet Beet Market and our food donations program, to leading the Abenaki Seeds Project. Currently France leads the organization as Co-Executive Director as well as heading the development department ensuring KFH is well positioned financially to carry out our nonprofit services.

France is a passionate leader, both as a champion of the KFH mission to reinvigorate our community within a restorative local food system, as well as passionate about doing excellent work and being an incredible teammate all along the way. She has a gift for supporting and encouraging teammates all throughout the organization. Listening and facilitating collaboration among teammates are just two of France’s many super powers.

France meets with partners and Sweet Beet Market sponsors from Walden Mutual Bank.

Kearsarge Food Hub Co-Founders from left to right: Pierre Hahn, France Hahn, Garrett Bauer, Hanna Flanders, Lauren Howard. (Kathleen Bigford not pictured here.)

France holding the 2022 Business of the Year award from the Lake Sunapee Region Chamber of Commerce.

France reflects,

“Through my work, I’ve come to understand that to really create a resilient and connected community, as well as a shared sense of belonging, we have to actually depend on and need each other. Our own joy and resilience is directly tied to our communities’ wellbeing, so with this understanding comes a very natural motivation to be of service.”

The entire team here at the Kearsarge Food Hub feels very lucky to have France leading the way as Co-Executive Director. This is a well-deserved honor for her service to KFH and our community!

Congratulations to ALL of the 40 under Forty recipients this year. The future of New Hampshire is looking bright because of the leadership of all these incredible people! See the full story at the Union Leader here.

February is for Food Drives Part Two: How can you help fight hunger in the Kearsarge area?

Two part blog series by the Kearsarge Food Hub

Here at the Kearsarge Food Hub (KFH), we’re on a mission to reinvigorate our community within a restorative local food system.

One of the main pillars of this work is increasing food access - and healthy food choices - to support both food and nutrition security for more neighbors. To read more about the critical need to increase food access, read part one of this blog series: What’s the State of Hunger in NH.

To that end, it is now a tradition at the KFH to host a Food Drive every February through our own Sweet Beet Market.

The food drive is a way to invite our community in to contribute to greater food security for Kearsarge area neighbors, especially during the chilly and challenging post-holiday months where food donations tend to decline.

February food drive love at Sweet Beet Market, an important way to have shoppers support food access for more neighbors.

It’s really easy to join in, simply purchase 3+ eligible items from Sweet Beet Market to donate, and get 10% off your entire purchase. We’ve highlighted things in the market like pasta and sauce, beans and rice, peanut butter, natural sweeteners, and more regionally sourced nonperishable goods that provide nutritious meals.

Items collected through the food drive are channeled through Kearsarge Food Hub’s dynamic food donations program, which provides locally and regionally sourced foods to seven food pantry partners all year long.

We also use these items to stock our own on-site Community FREEdge, an open resource where anyone can access the food they need, any time, no questions asked. In collaboration with the Bradford Food pantry, we stock the FREEdge six times a week with fresh produce, grocery items, and meals. Since it’s anonymous, we don’t know exactly how many people use the FREEdge, but we do know it’s emptied every time we fill it. Neighbors have come to rely on this resource as a place to get food, even if they just need to use it once or twice to get through a tough time.

The February Food Drive is just one part of the food donations program at the Kearsarge Food Hub (KFH). It is essential for collecting non-perishable foods to channel to neighbors in need through the winter months, but our food donations are flowing all year long. Three key elements make our food donations program unique at the Kearsarge Food Hub:

1. The vast majority of what is donated is high quality, fresh produce, in high demand by food security partners. While many organizations focus on fighting hunger (which is an important fight!) we’re thinking about how to address both hunger and nutrition at the same time.

2. Most of products we donate are purchased from our local and regional food system, with the exception of foods that are gleaned or rescued. This means that this program provides direct and significant financial support going to our local farmers and producers.

3. Finally, we only donate what our food security partners order. We do not send only what is leftover or in surplus. This allows people more choice in the food products they consume, and minimizes the burden of food waste for food pantries that already struggle with limited capacity.

It’s estimated from our local food pantry partners that food donations from the Kearsarge Food Hub reached over 4,000 clients they serve throughout 2023. That is a huge impact; overall this program grew by 30% from 2022 to 2023. Stay tuned for more astounding information on the reach of Kearsarge Food Hub’s food donations program in our upcoming 2023 Annual Report.

In the meantime, be sure to head over to Sweet Beet Market for your groceries and get 3 extra items for the food drive. We can’t ensure our food pantries and FREEdge are fully stocked this time of year without you! All of our food security programming is made possible by community support.

Can't make it in to the market? Contribute online by purchasing items in bulk or singly at our dedicated Food Drive store here.

February is for Food Drives Part One: What’s the state of Hunger in New Hampshire?

two Part Blog Series by the Kearsarge Food Hub

When you think about hunger, you might think that it’s something that happens in a far away place, something that’s “out there” in the world. The truth of the matter is, hunger is a pervasive problem not just “out there”, but right here at home in New Hampshire.

We rely on organizations like Feeding America, The NH Food Bank, and NH Hunger Solutions to share important information about exactly what hunger looks like throughout the state, who it’s affecting, and the gaps that need to be filled to reduce and ultimately eliminate hunger in our communities.

Did you know that 1 in 15 people and 1 in 12 children experience hunger in New Hampshire? But this isn't just about numbers; it's about the countless individuals on the brink of losing reliable access to the nourishing food they need for a vibrant and healthy existence. These aren't faceless statistics; they're the familiar faces in our neighborhoods, part of our community. It's not some distant issue; it's unfolding right in our midst.

Folks needing a hand putting food on the table here in NH are estimated to report needing an additional $61,604,000 per year to meet their food needs. Any and all effort in bridging this gap and providing essential food resources to neighbors needing a hand benefits not just those receiving food assistance, but entire communities like ours. When neighbors are food insecure- meaning they don’t have access to sufficient food for a healthy, active life - it impacts kids’ abilities to focus in school, places additional burdens on our healthcare system as a community health crisis, increases social tensions and mental health challenges.

Data from Feeding America on the state of hunger in New Hampshire.

Hunger is not a burden to be solved by those experiencing food insecurity.

It is a community health issue that we all have a responsibility to contribute solutions to and make an effort in solving together.

More and more people these days are experiencing food insecurity because of inflation and the increasing cost of living. Rising housing costs, childcare costs that can eat up entire paychecks, high fuel costs, skyrocketing health care and education costs are all adding up to put significant and stressful strain on thousands and thousands of families and individuals.

Many of us feel the impact of this but for some the steep rise in living costs means having to make a choice between food and heat during the winter. Not a choice a parent ever wants to face. Though inflation rates have slowed over recent months, the high cost of essentials, with the rollback of many pandemic aid programs, continue to have a daily impact on people’s wellbeing.

Food insecurity disproportionately affects certain demographics, including children, seniors, folks living in rural communities, and military and veteran families.

In 2023, half of NH households with children reported suffering from insufficient food, as reported from the US Census Bureau Household pulse survey (shown in the graph below). According to the 2020 Census, 19.3% of the New Hampshire population is 65+, and this demographic of seniors are particularly susceptible to food insecurity due to fixed incomes and rising healthcare costs. People living in rural areas may have less access to food assistance programs and may live far from grocery stores that sell healthy, affordable food. According to research conducted by the Military Family Advisory Network in 2022, 1 in 6 military and veteran families were experiencing food insecurity.

This underscores the importance of addressing systemic issues that contribute to food insecurity and ensuring that all individuals have equitable access to nutritious food.

Efforts to combat food insecurity in New Hampshire involve a combination of initiatives, from expanding access to federal nutrition programs (see the 2024 Farm Bill currently in process of being finalized, where a significant of funding is dedicated to food access), supporting local food banks, food pantries and creative food access programs, promoting community gardens, and advocating for policies that address the root causes of hunger.

Raising awareness about the issue and fostering collaboration among government agencies, non-profits, and businesses are crucial steps toward creating sustainable solutions. By working together to implement comprehensive strategies, New Hampshire can make progress in reducing hunger and improving the overall quality of life for its residents.

In part 2 of this series we will look closely at how Kearsarge Food Hub addresses food insecurity in our region.

While you wait for part two, you can participate in our February Food Drive to help more neighbors access foods during the winter months. Come into the market and buy 3+ eligible items to donate to the drive and get 10% off
OR!
donate online here if you can’t make it in.

Thank you!

Micro Mama’s Celebrates Solar! Resources for food & ag businesses to transition to clean energy.

Micro Mama’s owner Stephanie Zydenobos with USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small, State Director for Rural Business Development in Vermont and NH Sarah Waring, and family and farmer partners.

Stephanie Zydenbos, Micro Mama’s fearless leader, is an emblem of heart centered food production as community service. She was called to bring Micro Mama’s to life eight years ago, just as the living ecology of the fermented veggies she creates helps bring us to life when we eat them. Not just from a health perspective, though that’s certainly a big part of it, but also from the perspective of feeling rooted in this place we live and connected to farmers around us.

Stephanie was one of our very first partners here at Sweet Beet when we opened the farm stand back in 2015. Micro Mama’s fermented veggies quickly became an absolute staple for our little farm stand, and continue to be as we’ve grown from a farm stand to a year-round, indoor market. With Sweet Beet Cafe in full swing, we now have another opportunity to showcase these delicious and nutritious fermented veggies on our menu offerings.

In fact, Stephanie and her team have helped make fermented veggies a household staple for so many. From co-ops to markets to restaurants to homes, she’s extremely passionate about getting Micro Mama’s products - kimchi, sauerkraut, silly dilly carrot, and more - on as many plates as possible in New Hampshire and beyond.

To Stephanie, food preservation is human preservation is land preservation (and we’re inclined to agree). From an initial investment of $200 to get the business started, to now processing anywhere from 40,000-80,000 pounds of organic veggies a year, Micro Mama’s fills an absolutely essential role in our local food system. Their facilities transform carrots, cabbage, garlic and more into food that lasts, food that can live in your fridge and continue to nourish you far beyond the shelf life of those ingredients on their own. This business model provides a stable market for the farmers she sources from, and a reliable food source for her customers.

Stephanie of Micro Mama’s and Andy of Granite State Solar.

And now the entire operation runs on solar energy. Stephanie’s tenacity has paid off once again as she pursued this transition to solar. She received $52,846 from the Rural Energy for America program, which “provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements.” Working with Granite State Solar, Micro Mama’s operations will now source 93% of their energy needs from the sun, and save an estimated $13,500 on annual energy costs.

To celebrate the transition to solar energy, Stephanie and her team hosted a special event at Micro Mama’s headquarters in Weare, NH on December 19th, 2023. True to Stephanie’s generous spirit, this was a day for celebrating not just this huge accomplishment for Micro Mama’s, but the entire local and regional food web of which Micro Mama’s is an integral part.

There were many food system folks in attendance thanks to Stephanie’s direct invitations, from the farmers who supply Micro Mama’s with their organic produce (of which they process 40,000-80,000 lbs a year in the creation of their fermented products), to representatives of food hubs (ourselves included), and of course the entire Micro Mama’s family.

USDA deputy secretary Xochitl Torres Small and State Director for Rural Business Development in Vermont and NH Sarah Waring were in attendance, along with other state representatives. They were there to honor this moment for Micro Mama’s, to spread awareness about the resources available for agricultural producers and rural small business owners, and to learn from the people in the room.

Good connections at the press conference celebrating Micro Mama’s transition to solar.

This was an inspiring day that reminded all of us in attendance that we are indeed part of a dynamic ecosystem here in the local food web. Farmers growing, producers processing, markets selling, food hubs connecting, press partners communicating, eaters eating, and government services providing resources that really can change lives and improve our communities and businesses. As Stephanie put it that day “we are each powerful, but together, as demonstrated here, right here in this room, we’re unstoppable.”

Micro Mama’s was one of the first ever featured partners featured in Kearsarge Food Hub’s Love Local video series back in 2021.

Thanks to the Rural Energy for America program and the Inflation Reduction act, there’s more money than ever to help agricultural producers and rural small businesses transition to clean energy for greater economic and environmental resilience. Learn more at: https://www.rd.usda.gov/inflation-reduction-act/rural-energy-america-program-reap

Tasty Morsels: 2023 Highlights from the KFH Community

2023 was a rich, dynamic, and delightful year here at the Kearsarge Food Hub - thanks to you!

As we move into a new year, grateful as ever to be in service and collaboration with you, we would love to take a moment and celebrate ten highlights from 2023.

Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of all the bright moments from the past year, but it does capture the essence of our growth and impact from across the organization and in the community. We’re celebrating a great year behind us and looking forward to wonderful year ahead!

---

1. Reopening Sweet Beet Café

In the wake of having to unexpectedly close Sweet Beet Cafe in February of 2023, there was a necessary pause before we knew how to proceed. It quickly became clear that we needed to learn more from our community about what you all value in the cafe and take it from there.

We conducted surveys, hosted a focus group, listened, soul searched, and mapped out options. Ultimately, with all your generous feedback and with the help of caring volunteers and dedicated staff, the café reopened on July 1st, 2023!

Many, many helping hands, lots of smiles (and challenges, too!), test batches and floor plans, painting and rearranging, excitement and troubleshooting, boxes and boxes of veggies, sign making and hanging, menu crafting and tasting, and so much more made this reopening possible. Sweet Beet Café is going strong!

2. Launching Farm + Forest Club

In 2023, we were so excited to launch a Farm + Forest Club for local homeschoolers, giving these Junior Beets an opportunity to experience all the elements of farm and forest life.

From planting seeds and exploring pond life, to cooking veggies on an open fire and running a mini-farm stand, it’s safe to say that the Farm + Forest Club is a big hit with the kids (and parents, too!)

These programs are offered on a sliding scale so no family is turned away do to inability to pay.

We’re looking forward to MORE connections through Farm + Forest in 2024. Get your name on our mailing list to be the first to hear about Farm + Forest Club opportunities!

3. Community PartnershiPs & Shared Initiatives

This year (like every year) we are so very grateful for community partners who inspire us with their heart, hard work, and leadership. So many incredible people, businesses, and organizations we admire in the local and regional food system and community service we share that we get to work with! It’s this web of community connections and relations that builds true resiliency. We feel its power each and every day!

Some of the highlights that come to mind from the year include hosting Stay Work Play for their Rising Stars Leadership meeting, getting to know some of the board of NH Hunger Solutions, and starting to work with Walden Mutual Bank - who is now our Sweet Beet Market sponsor!

4. A New farm education structure

With many helping hands and funding from a generous anonymous donor, we were able to build a structure on Sweet Beet Farm for all things farm-education.

Whether it’s ducking away from the rain, enjoying a shady lunch, or writing and drawing about farm life, this structure has already taken farm-ed to the next level. 

It will allow us to have even more visitors (kids & adults alike) in 2024 and beyond!

5. 1st Annual Food Drive at Sweet Beet Market

Together during our first ever food drive at Sweet Beet Market last February, we collected almost 600 items (over $3,300 value) that helped stock the Community FREEdge as well as 7+ food pantry partners with grocery items. 

What's more is that everything purchased through Sweet Beet Market has triple the impact: Not only are we able to feed more local families, but the dollars spent go to local farmers and producers, with the rest going to our nonprofit mission here at KFH.

 6. Making compost on Sweet Beet Farm

This year, we finally started making compost on Sweet Beet Farm (something we’ve wanted to do since day 1!) using food waste from Sweet Beet Market + Cafe and other local inputs. This compost increases resilience by limiting reliance on outside inputs, all while providing a new level of fertility and aliveness to the soil - which of course translates to the aliveness of the foods it produces!

This is one tremendously important step in closing loops in our hyper local food shed, right here KFH operations.

What’s more, students on the farm through our farmer apprentice program and extended learning opportunities for high schoolers helped in the development of our composting systems. As always, we’re learning as we grow!

7. 3rd Annual Abenaki Seeds Project

This year three of the Abenaki Seeds Project, a collaborative effort here in the Kearsarge area to grow Abenaki heritage seeds in home and community gardens. This provides an opportunity to learn together about Native Foodways and support food security for Native American neighbors, with the harvests going to the Abenaki Helping Abenaki food pantry.

This year we had over 50 local sites growing Abenaki Seeds, including our own Baby Beet Farm. The three sisters mounds at Baby Beet were planted and harvested by the Bradford 3rd Garden, producing 50lbs of Abenaki Crookneck Squash, 8lbs of Abenaki Cranberry Beans, and 7lbs of Rose Flint Corn kernels.

The Colby-Sawyer College Main Street garden also grew Abenaki Seeds, with the college students ultimately delivering 410+ lb of crookneck squash for the pantry!

8. A wonderful community fair on the Fall Equinox

Looking back on 2023, our hearts are still from our Community Fair on the autumn equinox.

Together we learned how to save seeds, made nature journals, created a community “quilt”, enjoyed live music, crafted fairy gardens, played with goats, explored how to conserve energy in our homes, learned about community resources, and ate delicious breakfast sandwiches, tacos, and chili!

A huge thanks to the partners who joined us, volunteers and staff who helped bring it to life, and the farmer and producers partners who supply our market and kitchen with fresh, local ingredients. Our community events are possible thanks to you!

9. Love Local: Meet your farmers + makers

It’s a tradition for us here at the Kearsarge Food Hub to feature local farm partners each year in our Love Local event. These are folks we source from for Sweet Beet Market + Café, who are out in the field and the food system doing the work growing and making food each and every day. These farmers have invaluable perspectives to share, especially in 2023 with the challenging growing season we had.

Featured farms from 2023 were: NOK Vino, Deep Meadow Farm, Spring Ledge Farm, and our own Sweet Beet Farm. It made a big impact for all of us who were in attendance at the event to hear from these farmers at such a critical moment for food and farming.

Tune into the insights from this year’s Love Local through a blog from our friends at Food Solutions New England: Community and Resilience In New Hampshire with all the videos and more context on the state of our local food system.

10. 2022 Business of the Year
Lake Sunapee REgion Chamber of commerce

“A business with such selfless dedication to its community.

Working tirelessly to grow a hyper locally supplied market and cafe with multi acre farm during an incredibly difficult time to run a profitable restaurant, solely in an attempt take all profits and return them directly to the community through food donation, most importantly in the form of healthy meals, accessible 24/7, free of charge, for anyone suffering from food insecurity.

Nominated in almost every category this evening, the work of the team at the Kearsarge Food Hub is unlike any other. From seeing a need for change and education to creating an absolutely incredible space in Bradford and becoming a resource for so many. 

What Kearsarge Food Hub offers is more than the fruits and veggies at Sweet Beet Market or a tea and scone at their new Sweet Beet Cafe...it's a NEW way of life - a NEW way to connect with your neighbors - a NEW way to look at local food - a NEW way to change the world around you. There is nothing more powerful than that.”

---

Thank you for an amazing year in 2023! We look forward to another great year ahead. Stay connected with all the happenings here at KFH by joining our mailing list.

3rd Annual Community Fair Reflections

Dearest community - thank you for a delightful and invigorating Community Fair  on the Autumn Equinox!

We had a positively wonderful time on the lawn of Sweet Beet celebrating local food, farms, and community with you. 

Together we learned how to save seeds, made nature journals, created a community “quilt”, enjoyed live music, crafted fairy gardens, played with goats, explored how to conserve energy in our homes, learned about community resources, and ate delicious breakfast sandwiches, tacos, and chili!

Special thanks to our sponsor Nathan Wechsler and the partners who joined us in bringing the fair to life: Kearsarge Neighborhood partners, the Bradford Energy Committee, Evergreen Healing Arts, Venue at 11 West Main, Broken Boat Farm, and Decatur Creek. 

Of course, a huge thanks to the volunteers who shared their time with us, all our amazing staff, and the farmer and producers partners who supply our market and kitchen with fresh, local ingredients.

And thanks to YOU for joining us and tuning in! See you next year at the fair!

NH Eats Local Part 3: How we live free + eat local.

Here we are at the end of August and the end of NH Eats Local month. This month we’ve explored KFH origins, community, how we create access to local foods, economic impact, farm-based education programs, and the team that makes it all possible. Read more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this blog series.

To close out this month, we’re reflecting on how we live free and eat local - and the why behind the work. There are so many layers to the impact of growing, sharing, eating, and choosing local foods when we can, from social nourishment to greater food sovereignty for our community.

Of course, the importance and impact of a vibrant local food system and the work that makes it possible continues all year, day by day.

That's why it's vital to keep the why behind choosing local food front and center, to inspire us all to support our local food system when we can and to remind us of the deep nourishment that this work provides to ourselves and the community.

We think this is beautifully articulated in a video the KFH team did last year with Visit NH for their How I Live Free series. We hope you enjoy it and feel inspired to choose local not just this NH Eats Local Month, but all year long!

NH Eats Local Part 2: Economy, Farm Education, & Team

We’re back for Part 2 of the NH Eats Local blog series. Head here for Part 1 where we explore our origins, community, and ways we create access to local food for all neighbors here at the Kearsarge Food Hub (KFH).

August is NH Eats Local Month and we’re taking a moment to celebrate our local food system and the people that make it possible. It’s also an important opportunity to note some of the challenges we’re experiencing this year in particular like extreme weather patterns, which is all the more reason to learn about our food system and support the folks growing, making, and distributing food in the community. It is, after all, an essential service!

In this edition, we’ll dig into how work at KFH contributes to the local economy, supports educational programs, and relies on a team of dedicated staff to carry out operations day in and day out.

Economy.

Shopping locally when we can boosts the local economy in significant ways. In 2022, shoppers at Sweet Beet Market + Café helped send $350k directly back to nearly 150 local farmers and producers.

This year, it is more important than ever to invest in our local farms through purchasing their goods when we can. The extreme weather has caused significant damage and loss for many local and regional farmers, affecting their bottom line and, inevitably, morale in an already challenging profession.

Farm Manager Pierre and Food Access Manager Cassie here at the Kearsarge Food Hub and Sweet Beet explain more about what’s been going on for farmers and what we can expect as shoppers in this 2.5 minute video.

Programming: Farm Education for all!

Abenaki seeds passed off to a 3rd grader at Baby Beet Farm, where they were planted into three sisters gardens. These gardens will be harvested by the kiddos as 4th graders in the fall, and then the project is passed on to the incoming 3rd graders!

For us here at KFH, and we know for many other organizations working in local and regional food systems, it’s critically important to sew seeds in the youth to grow the next generation of farmers and responsible stewards of our lands and waters.

One way this comes to life is through farm-based educational programs that reach kids in first grade through college age, providing hands-on learning experience on the farm. This not only supports our local kids and students with connection to food, farming, nature, and community, but it is also fulfilling a longer term vision of climate resiliency and food security for our community.

These programs take place on our own Sweet Beet Farm, a space that thrives on organic, regenerative practices that nurture the land. In 2022, we had over 200 unique learners join us on Sweet Beet Farm. Learn more about the wide array of farm-based education offerings here at KFH here.

Team.

The KFH team on Sweet Beet Farm at a staff gathering in late July, 2023 (missing some folks!)

This NH Eats Local Month, we would be remiss not to take a moment to shine a light on all the dedicated teammates on the ground level here at KFH doing the work day in and day out.

The food system, like many sectors, is struggling to find enough folks to carry out the work, causing a lot of strain on food system workers from the farm to the kitchen. We’re very grateful for this team (and are always looking for new teammates to join us!)

What better way to show our gratitude than through poetry?!

The KFH Poem
If you don’t know, you should know ‘em

The peeps who bring you Sweet Beet 
The ones running food donations
The folks up on the farm
Or in admin or communications
On the board and volunteering
Making moves and engineering

Chatting up a customer
Or packing up carrots
Crafting a meal 
Or building out budgets

It’s a labor of love
This thing that we do

Sometimes asking too much
Of me and of you
So we learn to take breaths
To prioritize, subdue

But the heart is there
And the mission is true.

Do you remember why
We do what we do?

To care for each other
To center this land
To heal our aching planet 
And the loneliness at hand

To feed not just bodies
But minds, hearts and souls
To give it our best
And pursue deeper goals

Beyond just this moment,
For generations to come
That joy be restored
And resilience reborn
In a new kind of way
That’s also old and well-worn

We share a vision
That’s coming to be
Making change happen
For self and community
Bringing us closer
Grounding our feet
Trellising tomatoes
Dropping a beet

We get the job done
From start to finish
Here at KFH
It’s just something in us
We care, we learn, we build, we grow
And yes we have a long way to go
But look where we’re at 
Look what we can do
When we’re in it together
Me plus you

These things take time
But one thing we know
We’re riding the waves
And learning as we grow!

NH Eats Local Part 1: Origins, Community, Access.

August is NH Eats Local Month, a fantastic time to savor the bounty of our local food system and celebrate the people who make it all possible.

Here at KFH, August reminds us that at the root of our mission to reinvigorate our community within a restorative local food system is the food we grow, eat and share here on our local lands.

 This time of abundance speaks to our vision of resilient and connected community where everyone is empowered to access healthy food, where local farmers are supported and the land is nourished, and where all people share a common sense of place.

 We're bringing this vision to life by the grace of nature, the power of community, and all the creative and heartfelt efforts throughout local food system. 

In reflection and celebration this August, let’s explore the origins, community, ways we create access to local food here at KFH.

Origins.

Sweet Beet Farm Stand, 2015.

In 2015, five eager young folks and one retired school teacher decided they wanted to help heal their community through food. Starting as Sweet Beet Farm Stand, Kearsarge Food Hub grew from a seed of an idea to a nonprofit now run by a team of over 20 employees and 11 board members.

Through our work over the past 8 years, we've realized that to get to the heart of systemic problems like a disconnected and dysfunctional industrialized food system, we must honor all the layered interconnections.

Each unique KFH program - from Sweet Beet Farm + Market + Café to education programs, food donations, and community building efforts -  feeds the next to create not just systemic change in the local food system, but cultural change grounded in how neighbors trust and support each other, reclaiming and sharing the knowledge of how to grow and eat local, seasonal foods, and how we relate to our natural environment.

The interconnection of Kearsarge Food Hub’s programming in support of local food, farms, and community.

Community.

We believe that everybody has a place in the local food system and a right to access locally grown, caught, and produced foods. It’s this sense of belonging - and connection to place - that we strive to support with our services from Sweet Beet to community events to volunteerism.

Whether you grow food, use the FREEdge, shop in the market, volunteer, donate, learn with us on Sweet Beet Farm, attend community events, partner in shared initiatives, or otherwise - the growing community around the KFH mission is a source of deep appreciation…and empowerment.

It’s what we call the heart beet, fueling all the programs and operations that grow, move and share food throughout the community.

We’ve met some incredible people, forged deep connections, and have learned so much through every step of the journey.

Of course, this community is an ecosystem that includes not only all of us, but the lands, waterways, and non-human life all around us. Without the soil, forests, critters, sunshine, fresh water, and clean air of the New Hampshire landscape, none of the amazing food we enjoy in August (or any time of year) would be possible.

August crops growing on Sweet Beet Farm.

Access.

Here at KFH, creating access to local food for all neighbors is at the core of our work. We love when neighbors shop at Sweet Beet, but we also know this is not an option for many. That’s where a few key food security efforts come into play and are absolutely critical.

SNAP/EBT is accepted at Sweet Beet Market, with 50% off fresh fruits and veggies thanks to the granite state market match. We also have a standing 25% off  Veterans Discount on all products all the time, and a 25% discount in the market + café for all employees.

Additionally, the KFH community supports a robust food donations program that donates over $62k annually through food pantry partners and an on-site Community FREEdge.

Kearsarge Food Hub’s food donations from 2018-2022.

This food donations program is unique in three ways:

1. The vast majority of what is donated is high quality, fresh produce, in high demand by food security partners

2. All the products we donate are purchased from our local community. This means there is direct and significant financial support going to our local farmers and producers.

3. Our food pantries partners are clients, not just recipients of leftovers and surplus. We only donate what they order from us week to week. This allows people more choice in the food products they consume, and minimizes waste. We work with six food pantries on a regular basis, including Abenaki Helping Abenaki Food Pantry, Bradford Food Pantry, Henniker Food Pantry, Hungry Owl at Keene State College, Kearsarge Lake Sunapee Food Pantry, and Warner Food Pantry

Shared initiatives like the Abenaki Seeds Project and FEED Kearsarge harness the power of collaboration in the community to strengthen food security through things like growing more home gardeners, supporting culturally appropriate food access for Native Americans, and rescuing produce from local farms through gleaning projects. 

This is all made possible by our generous donors, shoppers at Sweet Beet, grant funding, and our food security Corporate Sponsors: Naughton & Son Recycling, Secondwind Water Inc., Spring Ledge Farm, and Bar Harbor Bank and Trust.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our savoring and celebrations this NH Eats Local Month!

Summer Gardening Video Series: Garden Maintenance

Welcome to the second edition of Kearsarge Food Hub’s Summer Gardening Video Series. In the first installment, we explored how to start our gardens. Now let’s take a look at garden maintenance.

We’re back in the garden at Colby-Sawyer College with Professor Leon Malan to explore a few key areas of garden maintenance:

• Caring for our tomato plants;

• Slug control;

• Fertilizing our gardens.

What’s the main way we can prevent disease in our tomato plants? What’s one beverage that slugs can’t get enough of? What’s one little known consequence of too much rain in the garden?

Leon fills us in on this and more in the two videos below.

Whether you’re a first time gardener or you’ve been growing gardens for a while, you’re bound to learn something (just like we did!) from Leon in the garden. He provides a wealth of knowledge from his vast experience growing gardens with sustainable methods focused on celebrating the land, caring for soil, and producing high quality (and delicious) veggies!

Let’s dig in…

Video #1: Caring for our tomatoes.

---

Video #2: Slug control and fertilizing the garden.

We hope you’ve learned something here to apply in your garden today!

The summer gardening video series is in partnership with FEED Kearsarge - a collaborative on a mission the Kearsarge Area of New Hampshire to grow more gardeners. Why?! Because gardening supports not only food security for more neighbors but also connection to nature and JOY for the spirit!

Please like and share with anyone you think might benefit from periodic check-ins with Leon in the garden through these short how-to gardening videos! And also:

Summer Gardening Video Series: In the Garden with Leon!

Professor Leon Malan at Colby-Sawyer College's Permaculture Garden.

Here at the Kearsarge Food Hub (KFH), we’re grateful to be a part of two local networks geared toward growing more gardeners in the Kearsarge Area - FEED Kearsarge and the Abenaki Seeds Project.

FEED (Food Education, Expansion, and Distribution) Kearsarge supports neighbors with greater access to local foods through the power of collaboration. Part of FEED Kearsarge efforts, the Tray it Forward Program specifically distributes seedlings to homes that might not otherwise have the resources to start gardening. Once folks receive their seedlings, the next step is to successfully produce some veggies!

Similarly, the Abenaki Seeds Project distributes heritage Abenaki seeds to home growers to start three sisters gardens - a combination of corns, beans, and squash - in the raised bed system representative of Native American agriculture. This is a way to share knowledge of Indigenous farming practices that can have many practical applications and positive impacts for us all today, while supporting food security for the Native community in our area. The harvest from these efforts is donated to the Abenaki Helping Abenaki food pantry.

This summer, KFH is crafting a series of educational, how-to videos to support those participating in both these programs, or anyone trying their hand at home gardening. In these short videos, we’ll visit Colby-Sawyer College’s Permaculture and Main Street Gardens where Professor Malan will take us through the growing season from planting to harvest, offering helpful tips and tricks for how to make the most of your home garden!

This video series is geared toward beginner gardeners, but we’re sure gardeners of all levels could benefit from a visit with Leon in his garden.

Let’s get started with the first two videos in the series:

Video #1: Planting your Garden

For Tray it Forward recipients or anyone growing common veggies in a home garden!

Video #2: Starting a Three Sister’s Garden

For anyone participating in the Abenaki Seeds Project or otherwise growing three sisters gardens.

Please like and share with anyone you think might benefit from periodic check-ins with Leon in the garden through these short how-to gardening videos! And also:

4th Annual Tray it Forward: 8000 seedlings make their way to homes & community sites.

The Tray it Forward Program began in 2020 as a collaborative way to build community, share gardening education, and grow more food. This was really in response to the COVID pandemic and the struggles we were facing as a community, like difficulty accessing food and strained supply chains.

We’ve learned since then that this program is impactful for more than just getting through a crisis - it is foundational for building connections in community centered on reclaiming the knowledge and joy of growing our own food!

In its fourth year now, Tray it Forward distributed 400 seedling trays totaling 8000 plants to individuals, organizations like local health centers and food pantries, and community garden sites like the Main Street Garden at Colby-Sawyer College.

Community members supported the program through donations to Spring Ledge Farm, where the seedlings were grown and each donation was matched plant for plant by Spring Ledge. Local businesses donated supplies that folks could use to get their gardens going. Dozens of volunteers coordinated by Kearsarge Neighborhood Partners joined together to bring this program to life, from outreach to participants to delivering the trays directly to homes.

In response to community feedback, the 4th Annual Tray it Forward program is focusing more energy on container gardens for homes that don’t have access to land, which is a common barrier to gardening. Generous donations of potting soil and containers were gifted to program participants alongside their seedling trays to provide a solid foundation for growing food in containers.

While one main goal of Tray it Forward is to reach more first time gardeners, many folks receiving trays are in their third or fourth year gardening thanks to this program. We’re really starting to pick up speed in growing are collective knowledge of producing nutritious, delicious vegetables from home gardens. More than that, folks are feeling the shared joy and wellbeing of getting outside, putting our hands in the soil, and feeling supported and cared for by one another.

“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul.”

— Alfred Austin, poet

To help folks on their journey, we created the Victory Garden Toolkit, which is a wide-ranging collection of gardening resources, from how to start the garden to weekly newsletters that dig into common issues and processes you might find in the garden throughout the season - from planting to harvest!

We’re looking forward to providing educational videos straight from the garden this year to help folks have a successful growing season. We’re also excited to check in with our gardeners to see how things are growing. Stay tuned!

Check out the video recap from the 4th Annual Tray Delivery Day!

Brought to you by FEED Kearsarge

Sweet Beet Café Survey Results & Next Steps

Co-Executive Director France about to taste test some nourishing kitchen goodies.

As promised, since Sweet Beet Café temporarily closed, we’ve been hard at work figuring out how to reopen with a model that serves the needs of our community, is sustainable for our team, and works on a responsible financial model that our patrons and supporters can feel good about.

Part of this process was launching our first-ever significant survey experiment exploring what you, our dear community, thinks the next iteration of the café should look like.

We were blown away by the 280 responses we received from this two-part survey, and so very grateful to those of you who responded with such thoughtfulness and care.

The results and comments were overwhelmingly positive, serving as a much-needed reminder of our place in our shared community, for which we are so very grateful. We’re also taking to heart the constructive feedback generated by this process, knowing that we can and will improve what we have to offer. 

We’d love to share with you an overview of the survey results, and where we are in terms of next steps for the café.

Summary

In reviewing the data and the commentary from both surveys there are three main overarching themes that arose in terms of what the community wants to see from Sweet Beet Café and the Community Room. 

Overall, the respondents to the survey:

• value the café and community room for the gathering space it provides;

• prefer quality of food and beverage over quantity / variety of items;

• and want to see more food-based education.

Let’s dig in and explore each focus area that our community named as central to the experience and impact of the cafe, kitchen, and community room. 

Focus Area #1: Community Gathering Space

A gathering to generate feedback from community memebers.

Through the data and in large part through the comments offered in the first and second surveys, it is very clear that having a comfortable and welcoming place to sit and enjoy a meal with friends and family is extremely important to the community.

We received many specific suggestions and comments relating to gatherings at the café or in the community room. Here is a sampling of quotes from survey respondents that capture the intent and spirit.

I like the idea that community members could “rent” the community room for gatherings. Like a monthly group for young moms or something where all people who come pitch in $5 to cover the cost.

The environment and running into people. It really is more than a Food Hub. It's a hub of the community.

Knowing that by supporting the cafe, I was supporting more than just a business but truly supporting the community.

Focus Area #2: Quality Over Quantity

Background: A new cook in the kitchen, Julio, making tasty things. Foreground: pasta salad (which has become quite beloved!)

One of the assumptions we had going into this discovery phase of the next evolution of the café was that the majority of people wanted a wide variety of both food and beverage items. 

This assumption turns out to be incorrect. 

What we heard loud and clear, in the choices/data and in the community comments, is that a simpler, locally sourced quality menu is more important than variety. We were also shown that the customer experience of community, gathering with friends, the friendliness of staff and feeling a part of something are all also more important than an extensive menu.

Simpler and less variety does not mean that this would be at the expense of gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan options. In fact, there were many requests for these types of menu items.

We received many specific suggestions and comments relating to a simpler and quality menu at the café. Here is a sampling that reflects more than one or two people commenting toward this end.

I prefer a basic simple menu, less expensive but fresh and clean.

Maybe less on the menu. Just a simple breakfast sandwich or egg plate, and a soup and sandwich of the day for lunch.

Having the Café in existence is most important. The menu is not as critical. Sometimes less is more. Basic offerings are better than none. The menu and food don’t need to be the holy grail of inspirational vegan cuisine.

Focus Area #3: Food Based Education

Co-Executive Director Lauren chopping peppers!

Through these surveys, we learned that people are looking for educational classes and workshops around food. Folks expressed that it’s important to make connections between the foods we offer in the market and how to prepare, preserve, or otherwise enjoy those foods through some type of hands-on, educational experience.

Here are a few comments directly from the surveys that demonstrate people’s interest in food-based education here in the café and kitchen.

Basic cooking, canning, pantry stocking, how to store, baking workshops would be so helpful. I don't always know what to do with items in the market, and I hate when things go to waste. That might be a fun workshop: how to use up food before it goes bad or how to preserve it. Not things like how to make eclairs, which is way over most of our heads and not very practical. Keep it simple.

More education about food. Make sure people in the market know what they are talking about and the difference between a rutabaga and a turnip, or the different kinds of apples, for example.

Monthly workshops would be great! Preserving food series.

Overall Areas For Improvement

When we asked about things that could be changed and areas of improvement, we received some expected, as well as some surprising feedback that we are taking to heart. 

We are grateful that the community is sharing these concerns with us so that we may embody our organizational motto: ‘Learning as we grow!’  Through this survey process, we asked for constructive criticism and receive it willingly. It is also very important for us all to remember that 95% of all comments were positive. 

In terms of the customer experience, we received feedback to address three main areas:

• Comfort, cleanliness and coziness of the café and community room.

• Speed of service.

• More accessibility in terms of cost.
  
  We are integrating this important feedback into the plans and long-term functioning of the café - and all our services - moving forward.

Takeaways and Next Steps

The biggest takeaway for us is in a shift of our framework from a ‘local café that has a gathering space’ to a ‘welcoming community gathering place that offers simple, accessible, quality, locally sourced and prepared foods.’

This is a significant change in the way we have approached Sweet Beet Café and kitchen and will inform how we move forward. Some of these steps will take time and we will be sure to keep you apprised of our progress along the way.

Volunteers Susan and Mariah creating a beautiful, unique display from our Sweet Beet/KFH apparel over the years.

1. The community room will become a focal point of Sweet Beet Cafe and Market, open to the wider community (as it is now!) and will be inviting, clean, and run efficiently. A community room refresh is in process - come check it out! And thank you to volunteer Susan Moss who has been leading the way on this!

2. The cafe will offer a slimmed down menu of nourishing, healthy, local food with from-scratch sweets as an option for those who want it. The service model is still being worked out.

3. There’s a lot to explore when it comes to offering hands-on educational classes and workshops. Once the café is open and running smoothly we will look into incorporating our ELO students, workshops, and the like. 

4. We will engage in more staff training from the top to the bottom of the organization to enhance customer experience and company culture.

5. We will continue to seek and implement community feedback.

Conclusion

Given all of this tremendously insightful feedback, a reopening plan for the cafe is coming along and you can expect to hear from us soon with an update! In the meantime, we are indeed cooking in the kitchen and stocking the grab ‘n’ go fridge with all sorts of fresh, delicious, seasonally inspired meals and snacks.

We are excited not only about the next evolution of the cafe, but of Sweet Beet Market and Cafe together at 11 West Main Street. They are, along with Sweet Beet Farm, inextricably connected and provide the foundation for all of our community service work here at the Kearsarge Food Hub. We are committed to co-creating the future of Sweet Beet and Kearsarge Food Hub with you, our community. You make it all possible, and we are happy to be here to serve you. Please know that our doors are always open.

In gratitude and service,
The KFH Team

Stay up to date on the latest news and happenings from Sweet Beet and KFH by joining our mailing list, and like/follow on the socials.

Top 5 Soil Building Practices on Sweet Beet Farm

This Earth Day, we want to talk about one of our favorite topics here at the Kearsarge Food Hub  - SOIL!

We spend a lot of time, energy, care, and love nurturing our soil on Sweet Beet Farm - a foundational program of ours here at KFH - because it is the most essential building block for growing nutritious, delicious foods that feed our community. When it comes to soil, we always want to give back more than we take.

This is time and effort well spent and much needed, now more than ever.

Why?

Because across the globe, and particularly in developed countries like the US, we’re suffering from a major crisis of soil loss. In fact, we’ve lost over a third of the world’s topsoil in the past 150 years due, in large part, to the irresponsible and harmful practices of industrial agricultural - like monocultures, using heavy machinery, and leaving the soil bare - that cause soil erosion and nutrient depletion at alarming rates.

Soil loss not only compromises our ability to grow food, but it also compromises natural systems that would otherwise be in balance, like the carbon and water systems. Soil that’s bare and eroded releases carbon into the atmosphere (while rich, healthy soils and flora ecosystems have the ability to store huge amounts of carbon). Soil erosion and compaction leads to increased runoff, reduced infiltration, water pollution, and more, affecting the availability, quality, and distribution of water resources.

There is also an enormous economic cost to soil loss. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, in the United States soil erosion has caused an estimated $44 billion in economic losses since the 1980s due to crop loss and other economic byproducts of soil loss.

Of course, where there’s challenge there is also opportunity. Improving soil health can increase crop yields by 20-50% while reducing the need for fertilizer and pesticide use. 

So how can we improve soil health?

This is a main question we’ve been exploring on Sweet Beet Farm for the past 8 years, and we’ve come up with a short list of 5 essential (and not at all unique to us!) soil-building practices for any sustainable farm. 

Let’s dig in!

1.Keep the soil covered.

Tarps in action covering beds on on the farm.

Keeping the soil covered is a primary tenet on Sweet Beet Farm, and indeed for any farm that practices sustainability. Covering the soil prevents soil erosion from wind and water, helps retain moisture, and prevents weeds. All of this makes life on the farm much, much easier.

We have a running joke on Sweet Beet Farm that tarp is the employee of the month, every month (of course, the people working on the farm are the actual heroes of the month, every month!). Without complaint, tarp covers the soil for us when and where we need it. We use a black plastic tarp (there’s actually a lot of plastic used on modern farms, an area where there’s room for growth and finding alternatives when possible), which gets heating by the sun, kills weeds, and keeps the soil warm and moist.

Other than tarp, cover crops keep the soil covered, with the added benefit of contributing nutrients back to the soil. Some common cover crops, like peas,  “fix” nitrogen which they mean converting atmospheric nitrogen into usable “food” for plants (aka they make fertilizer!)

2. Minimize soil disturbance.

The broad fork in actual for its second most important use - playing music.

On the farm we try to disturb the soil as little as possible because we want it to thrive with its own complex ecosystem of worms, microbes, and other living things! 

To do this, we practice minimal tilling and minimal soil compaction. We don’t use big tractors or till deep into the soil. When we need to, we use a hand-held tractor called a BSC, to till up the soil just enough for planting, or other use a broad fork to losen soil in the beds for planting (which happens to double as an instrument).

Permanent raised beds on Sweet Beet Farm.

We also utilize a permanent raised bed system. This means we have permanent planting space, which is mounded soil 30 inches wide and 100 feet long (which are the dimensions that allow us to easily work in the beds and make the best use of our tools), and designated walking rows to prevent compaction of the soil where we grow.

3. Adding / maintaining lots of organic matter. 

Adding organic amendments for soil fertility.

The plants we grow need lots of food to be as healthy and packed with flavor and nutrients as possible. Adding organic compost to the soil boosts fertility and maintains a good texture. Compost can come from animal manure, garden clippings, leaving plants to decompose in the fields, wood ash, and more. 

We’re on a journey to generate our own compost here on Sweet Beet Farm. This way we can bring in fewer inputs from external sources, like organic fertilizers and manure, and build a closed loop system where we take farm waste to create our own soil fertility.

4. Crop Rotation.

Tomatoes planed alongside lettuce.

One extremely harmful practice of the industrial food system that’s responsible for high levels of soil loss and nutrient depletion is monoculture. 

Monoculture means planting just one crop in the same space, over and over again. Driving through the midwest United States, for instance, you’ll see corn planted as far as the eye can see. This is incredibly damaging to the soil in the long term.

On regenerative farms like Sweet Beet, we grow a diverse set of crops and practice crop rotation, making sure that crops are planted in different spaces throughout the farm from season to season, planting to planting. This means we aren't pulling the same nutrients out of the soil by keeping the same things planted in the same space.

Different crops not only pull nutrients from different soil layers but they also provide different benefits to the soil. Radish roots can help to aerate, for example, which makes it more able to hold moisture and easier to plant in (among other benefits).

5. Mimicking nature as much as possible.

Essentially, all of these practices in particular and the foundational ethos in general for a sustainable, regenerative farm is to mimic nature whenever and however possible. Natural systems inherently possess the wisdom of how to maintain balance or restore balance when it has been thrown off. We learn from nature that soil is a central key to maintaining balanced, healthy ecosystems on the land. 

Soil works best when undisturbed and teeming with life. Interestingly, when you employ sustainable soil building practices on the farm, largely by promoting and protecting its natural vitality, you automatically reduce risks like pest and weed pressure. The system becomes more balanced and resilient, meaning there’s less chance for one thing to wipe out an entire crop.

And when it comes to the food we eat, it’s only as nutrient dense as our soil is. Not every carrot is created equally! Healthy, thriving soils yield highly nutritious - and flavorful - foods for generations to come.

Sweet Beet Farm in mid-summer, surrounded by forest.

What’s the takeaway? Soil is powerful and it needs our attention and protection!

At this point, on Sweet Beet Farm we’re beyond the pursuit of sustainability and into the realm of regenerative soil building practices. That’s because we’re not just trying to sustain - we’re trying to regenerate, rebuild, and renew soil to the most vibrant possible state. We hope you’ll join us however you can, because the future of life (and delicious, farm fresh foods) truly depends on it.

Abenaki Seeds Project: Nurturing a Community of Growers

It’s the end of March in New Hampshire and we’re looking forward to seedlings sprouting in gardens throughout our region, at homes and community sites and local farms (but first, we have a few feet of snow that needs to melt…)

Here at the Kearsarge Food Hub (KFH), we’re gearing up to support year three of the Abenaki Seeds Project in partnership with Abenaki Trails, Hopkinton Historical Society, Warner Public Market, and Colby-Sawyer College.

The Abenaki Seeds Project (ASP) is all about building a community of learners and growers grounded in Native American Foodways. The project consists of distributing Abenaki heritage seeds throughout the community to encourage neighbors to learn about Native American crops, and donating the harvest back to the Abenaki Helping Abenkai food pantry in an effort to support food security for tribal neighbors.

Looking back on how the project went last year, there are several notable highlights:

• We had a tremendous amount of participation - over 50 different folks signed up to receive heritage Abenaki seeds in 2022.

• We created a comprehensive Grower’s Guide that we distributed to all of our growers (see below).

• Seed Distribution Day went off without a hitch at three different locations in the Kearsarge Region.

• KFH, in partnership with Warner Public Market and the Abenaki Helping Abenaki Food Pantry, created and streamlined an aggregation system to get the fruits of our growers’ harvests back to the food pantry. 

• We hosted two webinars to bring our community together and discuss how things were going in our gardens. 

In October of last year, the Abenaki Seeds project dovetailed beautifully with events held on Indigenous People’s Day in Hopkinton, NH. The event began in ceremony at Riverway Park, speeches were made, and a bas relief sculpture by Carol Lake was unveiled. The day ended with the Abenaki Harvest Food Tasting Event, where Darryl Peasley and Liz Charlebois cooked up some great Abenaki dishes to share with the community. 

The Abenaki Seeds Project is all about education and community building. While there was not a remarkably high volume of food produced for the food pantry in years one and two, education of and support for the local Abenaki community has grown and blossomed over the past two years. 

We’re so excited to continue supporting this community of growers this year for the 3rd annual Abenaki Seeds Project.

This year we’re looking forward to incorporating more in-person educational and community building events, like visits to community garden sites working with the Three Sisters’.

In addition to distributing seedlings to gardeners, we’re recruiting a couple local farms to help produce a bit more food for the Abenaki Helping Abenaki food pantry.

We welcome Kearsarge Area growers to join this project and give growing Abenaki seeds a try. This year, we’re offering the three core crops that make up the Three Sisters' Garden: True Cranberry Beans, Rose Flint Corn, and Crookneck Squash. These crops not only compliment each other in the garden but also on the plate, providing a complete, balanced meal.

There’s talk of a recipe book being crafted in connection with this project to support utilizing the fruits of our gardens. Stay tuned!

Finally, it’s heartening to note a lovely connection between our farm-based education here at KFH and the Abenaki Seeds Project that includes our young people in this project. Last fall, Bradford Elementary 3rd graders prepped mounds for three sisters gardens that will be planted this spring. In the fall of next year, the then 4th graders will help with harvest and pass the gardens on to the incoming 3rd graders. 

We’re excited for another year of learning and growing with the Abenaki Seeds Project here in the Kearsarge Region! Sign up for seeds by April 5th, 2023.

Food Sovereignty begins with farmer support.

Food sovereignty is one of three guiding nonprofit initiatives that make up our mission here at the Kearsarge Food Hub. It is the ability for a community to have control over its own food supply, and for all neighbors to have both access to that food and a say in how it's grown and distributed based on that community’s values. Food sovereignty is empowerment to care for and connect all the elements that come together to feed and nourish us.

We believe food sovereignty begins with our local farmers.

Farmers are on the front lines of land stewardship and food security. They tend to our resources, their farms and practices have the power to preserve and care for our local lands, they produce the foods we all need to survive - and thrive.

Right now, our farmers are struggling and they need our support.

Last week at our Love Local: Meet your farmers and makers event, we heard from Aaron Lichtenberg of Winni Woods Farm. Winni Woods is based in the Lakes Region here in New Hampshire. They used to grow a lot of vegetables for farmers markets and CSA’s. Due to an abrupt shift in land use, they now focus on cut flowers and jarred goods that they create from vegetables sourced from partnering farms at a shared processing facility called Genuine Local. 

Winni Woods has struggled in ways that many small farms do these days. For Aaron, the challenges they face all comes down to access:

“If I were to boil it down to one word, it would be access. It’s access to land and access to markets. We’re still currently on a land lease, so access to land is a big issue for us in wanting to find a farm of our own. The access to markets you know, trying to find enough time and enough space to run a busy flower farm and get all of our jarred goods out into the marketplace.”

​​The 2017 National Young Farmer Survey found land access to be the number one challenge that young farmers and ranchers face. This is especially true for BIPOC farmers. “Across the country, climbing land prices and competition with the development market have made it increasingly difficult for farmers to find land they can afford—over the last decade the average cost of farm real estate has more than doubled.”

Aaron makes another good point that it’s not just access to land that’s a challenge for farmers, but access to markets as well. This has been cited time and again by our partners as a top challenge in our local food system. That is why we created Sweet Beet Market as a key service of our nonprofit work here at the Kearsarge Food Hub. It’s a way to offer a consistent, reliable, year round marketplace for our producers, while creating food access for the community. 

At Sweet Beet Market, we bring in products from 100+ partnering New Hampshire-based producers of all kinds. We take extra care to protect and convey the story of the products through things like source identifying signs and robust communications highlighting products and farmers. But the truth is no one can market their product like the farmer or maker can. That’s why we invested the time into creating the Love Local: Meet your farmers and makers event, and why we aim to do more work like that in the future.

We think it’s so important to use our platform to shine a light on our local producers and give them an opportunity to tell their own stories.


The impact that our recent Love Local event had on our featured farmers and makers is greater than we hoped it could be. Creating this opportunity to share stories helps tap into our collective potential to overcome challenges and become more connected.

 Aaron reflects on the event:

“My personal experience of the event was one of wonder and amazement. That's not hyperbole! Most days I generally keep to my endless "work silo" and consequently lose touch with all the great things happening around our state. Kearsarge Food Hub's commitment to highlighting, and supporting, local producers of all types around the State of NH reinvigorated my participation in the local goods network. It reminded me that I am not alone. That we're all out there struggling together to make our communities more connected, and we're all stronger for it.” 

Supporting farmers. Connecting our community. Strengthening the local food system in service to food sovereignty. These are central functions to our nonprofit work here at the Kearsarge Food Hub.

KFH's Farm Based Education: An Important Update

Part 2: Pathways in Agriculture

“If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to love the earth before we ask them to save it.”
 - David Sobel

There’s this powerful intro on the Embodiment Podcast (a great podcast exploring what it means to be embodied, definitely worth a listen), which states that “we don’t have the luxury of living in ordinary times.” Indeed, we do not. These are extraordinary times, with extraordinary challenges. And in these times, adaptability is one of our greatest strengths.

And that’s what we’ve done with our farm-based education programming here at the Kearsarge Food Hub - adapt. In part 1 of this blog series, we explore how we could not find a candidate for year two of our farmer apprentice program, and how this reality has led us to pivot and reimagine where our energy can go to address the very real challenges we face as a community and meet people where they are.

At KFH we have a vision of offering multiple layers of farm-based education to students in order to help young people find their place in nature and in community, while growing the next generation of farmers, food system workers, and environmental stewards. We want our educational programming to reach students of all ages, generating awareness about opportunities in the local food system, and creating tangible ways to get involved. 

Farm Education Coordinator Julie.

Without Farmer Apprentices this year, our farm education team has had more space to infuse existing programs with fresh energy and bring some new programs to life, too. We now have a Farm Education Coordinator, Julie, who brings a ton of enthusiasm, experience, and great ideas for how to grow our education programming. She loves working with younger kids and connects the farm experience to the experience of being rooted in nature.

Julie is working with Co Founder and Farm Manager Pierre to create a menu of offerings for students of all ages, from K-12 in the local school districts to the homeschool community, as well as tours for curious community members who want to get a feel for farm life. Ultimately this dynamic programming will start prepping Farmer Apprentices early on.

Pierre and Julie plant some seeds with Bradford 1st Grade, Spring 2021.

When it comes to programming for students, the team is taking a curriculum approach, which is all about being intentional about how we engage with students on the farm. This means taking extra time and care to create specific plans and set goals based on the different age groups we work with, while still being flexible to embrace whatever alchemy arises from the programs. Between interacting with the students in person and being in the setting of the farm, there are always beautiful and unforeseen learning moments, especially when we let the kids lead the way with their curiosity. 

In essence, KFH’s farm-based education programs are guided by this mission:

Our farm education programs are experiential, holistic, inclusive, and rooted in nature. Our farm and the surrounding forest are our classrooms. This farm-and-forest approach allows us to learn about and experience both aspects of Sweet Beet Farm and investigate how they interact. Through our programs, we foster connections to nature, connections to food, and connections to ourselves and each other.

Within this context, the farm education team has been revamping and reinvigorating KFH’s farm-based educational offerings. Let’s take a look at what’s new and exciting!

Bradford Elementary School: The 3rd-4th Grade Three Sisters Garden

Farmer Pierre harvesting salad mix with Bradford 1st graders in the Spring of 2022.

Kearsarge Food Hub has been working with the Bradford 1st Grade class for years now. It is one of our staple programs where we get to explore putting the fields to bed in the fall, planting seeds in the spring, and harvesting greens and making a big salad for their field day at the end of school.

We’re really excited to expand offerings to Bradford Elementary School 3rd graders this year with the start of the Three Sisters Garden. This project is linked to the Abenaki Seeds Project and is an opportunity to weave together knowledge of Indigenous food ways and food security, as well as gardening and growing food. The students will visit us in the farm in the fall, and we’ll come together in the spring to plant corn, beans and squash - the three sisters. What’s extra special about this program is the 3rd graders will come back to the farm in the fall as 4th graders to help with the harvest and pass the concepts they learned on to the incoming 3rd graders. 

Farm & Forest Homeschool Program

KFH is preparing to pilot our new Farm & Forest Homeschool Program, geared toward homeschool families in our area, in the spring of 2023. Through this program, which will immerse homeschooled students aged approximately 6 to 11 in our working organic farm and its forested surroundings, we will explore concepts related to how to grow food, how farm and forest ecosystems function and interact, and how and why to be a steward of our environment.

The farm education team will take this winter to finalize curriculum and plans for this drop-off, multi-week program, which, after the spring pilot, will expand to full capacity. Full and/or half days will be offered, depending on the needs of our community. Each session will have a theme, such as Fall Harvest, Water & Wetlands, and Buds & Blooms, to give our time together a varied, flexible focus.

Our days will consist of a mixture of farm projects (such as tending the student garden and harvesting in the production field alongside the farm crew), environmental games and practices (such as Nature Journaling and Sit Spots), and experiencing new farm foods (such as roasting kale over the campfire).

We believe that coming together each week and participating in set group routines, challenging tasks, and novel experiences ignites in students a sense of grit, connection, teamwork, and wonder. We are really looking forward to bringing this program to fruition! 

Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs) with Kearsarge Regional High School

The Sweet Beet Farm team at a staff training event in the fall of 2022, from left to right: Rah, Pierre, Anna (ELO student), Julie, Jake

Starting this September, KFH is piloting Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs) on the farm for the local Kearsarge Regional High School. Extended Learning Opportunities are gaining popularity as critical alternatives to classroom learning for older students. Many are yearning for hands-on experience in the community, which also serves as practical job training. Being able to get experience in different fields like farming while gaining school credit is an important opportunity for young people as they consider what life after high school might look like.

Anna Cook, who has already volunteered with us before on the farm, is our very first ELO student. She will be coming once a week through the end of the first semester to gain practical knowledge and experience on the farm in exchange for school credit. 

This is a great example of the pathways we hope to create with our farm-based education for young people. We have a relationship with Anna as a volunteer, as she’s done some of her high school community service hours on the farm. This helped us identify her as a good candidate to test out ELOs with since she’s familiar with our work and setting. As with any program, it will take a little time to hone in on the process and outcomes, and we are excited to be able to offer this program to more students in years to come. 

Field Trips & Farm Tours

The KFH Farm Education team is working to create opportunities for more students and community members to come to the farm for field trips and tours. The focus of these visits can range from exploring seed cycles and forest ecology for younger kids, to concepts in regenerative agriculture for older students, to simply a fun and inspirational tour for community members and visitors. A full list of offerings will be available in the coming months.

13 Homeschool students explored the farm, and surrounding forest and pond ecosystems, during a Homeschooler Education Day in the Spring of 2022.

The farm education team has been putting in a ton of work behind the scenes to make the growth of KFH’s farm education program possible. They are thinking through regulations and safety considerations, ironing out systems on the farm that make educating students there as fun, enriching, and safe as possible. We also have a plan to update farm infrastructure to accommodate more visitors, including an educational structure. The structure will provide a dedicated, shaded area for belongings, gatherings, lessons, educational materials, kitchen materials, meals, and cover from inclement weather.

We’re so excited to grow farm-based education on Sweet Beet Farm in service to our greater Kearsarge Food Hub mission - to reinvigorate our community within a restorative local food system.

Stay tuned as things are ever evolving. Sign up our our newsletter and follow us on social media to stay up to date!

You might also like:

Growing Farmers Blog series

Part 1: We need more Farmers!

Part 2: Learning as we Grow on Sweet Beet Farm

Part 3: Meet Cassie and Jake

KFH's Farm-Based Education: An Important Update!

Part 1: Turning Challenges into Opportunities

In the Spring of 2021, Kearsarge Food Hub had a special opportunity to co-create a new program that’s both exciting and deeply needed. We joined in partnership with Andy and Dorothy Jeffrey and Colby-Sawyer College to bring our first ever Farmer Apprenticeship Program to life. This is a six-month, paid, intensive training opportunity for young folks interested in pursuing farming as a career. 

That spring, a lot of details big and small came together to make this program a reality. We worked hard to outline specific outcomes that support potential new farmers with access to land, education, community, mentorship, technical assistance, business support, and markets. To learn more about the urgent need to support new and beginning farmers in this way, read our blog on Growing Farmers.

We had two fantastic and eager candidates, Cassie and Jake, who just wrapped up college at Colby-Sawyer and were looking for hands-on farming experience. They were already familiar with our work here at KFH, having engaged in various capacities throughout their college career as students and volunteers. They were able to find affordable housing and additional work to make the part-time apprenticeship manageable.

By the end of the season, Cassie and Jake far exceeded expectations as farmer apprentices. They surpassed sales goals from the produce and flowers they grew and sold, took initiative to make structural improvements on the farm, sought out new markets when they had abundance to share with the community, and showed up every day with enthusiasm and a problem solving mindset. They also engaged with elementary age students who came to the farm, passing on their knowledge and keeping the educational cycle moving forward.

Cassie showing us the Community FREEdge which she stocks several times per week with fresh produce, prepared meals, and grocery items.

We are delighted to share that they are now full-time employees here at the Kearsarge Food Hub! Cassie is our Food Access Manager, running Sweet Beet Market and our food donations program. Jake is a full-time farmer on Sweet Beet Farm. This is exactly the kind of pathway that we hope to cultivate with our educational programming - reaching students in K-12 and college, generating awareness about opportunities in the local food system, and creating tangible ways to get involved from volunteerism to employment.

Though this first year went according to plan, this past spring things went a little differently. We were ultimately unable to find new farmer apprentices for year two of the program. The pieces that fell into place for year one, like affordable housing and having an established relationship with candidates, were lacking this second time around. This gives us valuable information moving forward.

The inability to find apprentices is a challenge in and of itself, and it’s also a symptom of a complex set of issues that we all face here in the Granite State, and in rural areas in general.

Jake harvesting beets on Sweet Beet Farm, summer 2022.

The hard truth is that the social determinants of health are compromised for many neighbors in NH - safe and affordable housing, access to transportation, access to good jobs with liveable wages, the ability to purchase nutritious foods, and supportive social networks, to name a few.

New Hampshire has an aging population that is exacerbated by a lack of infrastructure and services that young people and families need to thrive.

On top of all this, the cost of living is on the rise. According to a US Census pulse survey, in June of 2022 more than a third of New Hampshire residents reported that it was somewhat or very difficult to pay for usual household expenses. That’s nearly 400,000 people. 

And of course, when we say things like labor shortages and lack of affordable housing, we’re really using transactional terms to describe how the health of our rural communities is suffering. So, in the longer term, we view these realities as a call to action to address the root of the problem and make New Hampshire a welcoming and supportive place to live.

For us here at KFH, this is an opportunity to re-envision our farm-based educational programming to meet the needs of our community and the demand for job training within the complicated context in which we live.

We’ve learned so much, not only about what it will take to create a vibrant, sustainable, and meaningful apprenticeship program, but also even more about the very real challenges that are faced by our community and the next generation of farmers.

We are now exploring ways we can address the housing concern for our apprentices, and are hoping to raise more money so that the paid internship is enough to support the apprentices through the farming season. Farming is incredibly hard work and there is tremendous room for improvement in terms of fair compensation, especially to keep up with the rising cost of living across the board.

There’s also a lot more work we can do earlier on in the process to support greater accessibility and viability for something like an intensive 6-month farmer apprenticeship program. We feel invigorated to reach local kids at younger ages, from homeschool groups to school districts, to create excitement, interest, and experience in the local food system early on.


In part 2 of this blog series, we’ll explore the specifics of how KFH has adapted our farm-based educational programs to meet the needs of our community here and now. Our goal is to address the problems we face with creative solutions and long-term vision, and, ultimately, help support the next generation of farmers who will feed our communities and care for our lands. Stay tuned!

Kearsarge Area Victory Gardens: An update three years in

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Kearsarge Food Hub (KFH) joined forces with community partners to co-create FEED Kearsarge - a shared initiative designed to support the community through turbulent times and beyond through Food Education, Expansion and Distribution. 

One pillar of this collaboration is the Victory Garden Revival, which is a concept repurposed from World War II, when households started growing their own food to support food security for themselves when supply chains were precarious. Check out our blog post going more in depth on community gardens, including Victory Gardens, here.

We find ourselves in a similar situation these days, with supply chains in almost every industry disrupted by a global pandemic, and otherwise crumbling under the weight of unsustainable systems that don’t honor human and natural limits. Alas, with a warming planet, ongoing environmental degradation, political divide, and tangible transitions in the workforce, unsustainable supply chains will surely continue to produce increasingly unreliable results and empty shelves - not the least of which will be felt at the grocery store.

And so, the Victory Garden Revival seems most appropriate here in the Kearsarge region, and any community that’s interested in helping its members have more control over their own food supply and, beyond that, cultivating joy and community connections in a time of high stress.

And still, helping households and community garden sites grow more of their own food is easier said than done. Gardening can be cost effective, supportive to physical and mental health, and incredibly rewarding, and it also requires resources, learning, and time to all come together.

The Origin of Victory Gardens in the Kearsarge Area

In the spring of 2020, KFH, alongside Colby-Sawyer College, spearheaded the building of a garden at the Bradford Food Pantry, one of the local Victory Garden sites. Another was built at the college and this year in 2022, the Warner Connects Food Pantry went through a process of getting town approval and building gardens on site at the pantry.

Seedlings grow on Spring Ledge Farm for the 2022 Tray it Forward Program.

The Tray it Forward program, another pillar of FEED Kearsarge, just had its third round this past spring and distributed 400 seedling trays to neighbors experiencing food insecurity and community garden sites. These are all considered Victory Gardens, as well as any other home garden that’s producing food, or learning how to produce food, in any amount. 

Helping home gardeners have a successful growing season requires not only distributing seedlings, but providing garden education and creating opportunities for neighbors to support one another through the growing season. So the FEED Kearsarge partners developed a weekly gardening newsletter and a Facebook support group to share knowledge and build community around gardening. 

When it comes to supporting community garden sites, it’s important to not only share information and build community connections, but also facilitate collaboration amongst partners. In simplest terms, it can come down to addressing two primary questions:

1. What do we want to grow and why?
2. Who’s responsible for what at the garden?

Let’s explore these two core questions here using the examples of the three community victory garden sites here in the Kearsarge region.

 1. What do we want to grow and why?

FEED Kearsarge partners have learned that when starting a community garden, It's helpful to identify the goals of the garden. One obvious goal is to produce food, but there are many other benefits to a community garden site. Gardens can provide education and exposure to gardening at a place like a food pantry, which might make clients more likely to choose fresh vegetables or consider starting their own garden. They can create opportunities to connect with nature, engage in self care, and be more environmentally sustainable, among many other benefits.

The Warner Connects Victory Garden

Amelia Gardner of Farmsteads of New England gives a tour of the Warner Connects Victory Gardens.

At the Warner Connects garden, Amelia Gardner of Farmsteads of New England is tending the beds along with other volunteer support. She says “Every garden is an opportunity for learning”. So, even if you’re not feeding the whole community with the garden, the opportunity for learning ripples out. There is no such thing as failing in the garden, Amelia believes. Only learning. 

The Warner Connects Garden provides space to Tray it Forward recipients to garden, participates in the Abenaki Seeds Project (another collaborative initiative to grow heritage Abenaki seeds for the Native American community), and produces food for the pantry. With the goal of producing a steady from for pantry clients in mind, they’ve been focusing on radishes, which are quick to grow and can have several harvests throughout the season. Though they have had to trouble shoot with the very dry summer, mulching the beds seems to have helped.

The Warner Connects food pantry is open 4 days a week and is a very active food pantry. Having a garden here has proven to be quite the educational tool. Folks come and walk around the gardens, either experiencing them for the first time or, being gardeners themselves, are looking for inspiration or bringing questions. One thing they’ve noted would be helpful in guiding clients would be to have an experienced farmer or gardeners there during busy times to help answer questions. 

Colby-Sawyer/Main Street New London Victory Garden

Professor Leon Malan gives a tour at the Colby-Sawyer College Victory Gardens.

At the Colby-Sawyer Victory Garden, they have a clear what and why. They plant seedlings from the Tray it Forward Program as well as the Abenaki Seeds Project to function as a hands on learning space for college students and interns.

They donate the harvest to either the food pantry there in town or the Abenaki Helping Abenki food pantry. As part of the environmental science department, Professor Leon Malan, who is an experienced farmer, oversees and manages the space. He’s able to work with his students, troubleshoot any problems in the garden, and maintain relationships with the folks at the food pantries.

Both Colby Sawyer and Warner Connects hosted tours at the gardens as a way to share their process and build community around gardening.

Bradford Food Pantry Victory Garden

Victory Garden at the Bradford Food Pantry

The Bradford Food Pantry Victory Garden has been through a trial and error process over the past three yers in figuring out exactly what to plant to have a successful growing season.

In the past few years, we’ve experimented with up to a dozen different kinds of plants in the space, all from the Tray it Forward program, which has proven to be too many in this small space. Laura, who manages the food pantry, along with Cheryl from the partnering church, has decided that fewer varieties of plants will be better for this small space.

Garden volunteer Patty is checking on the garden weekly and sending produce to the community FREEdge at Sweet Beet, a free fridge resource for folks to access 24/7.

Though this garden doesn’t produce a high volume of food, the goal is for it to support pantry clients with fresh veggies they will actually use. Having the garden right outside the pantry creates greater exposure to gardening for clients who use the pantry, and a source of joy for friends and neighbors that drive down main street who get to enjoy the garden's beauty.

2. Who’s responsible for what at the garden?

FEED Kearsarge Partners meet at the Warner Connects Victory Gardens.

This second question speaks to probably the most common pitfall of a community garden, which is unclear roles and responsibilities and a lack of communication. This not surprising at all - it makes sense that it’s difficult to outline roles and maintain communication when partners from various organizations and sectors are collaborating. The FEED Kearsarge partners continue to explore ways to iron out these kinks and keep communication flowing.

One option for addressing this is through a victory garden coordinator role. This is a volunteer position at the garden sites that essentially are responsible for coordinating with the food pantry leaders to harvest and distribute foods grown in the garden, as well as helping with planting and maintenance throughout the year. Other roles the coordinator could fill, or could collaborate with others to work on, include designing the garden - as in what plants to plant and where - and the actual building of the garden if that’s needed.

As described above, each Kearsarge area victory garden has at least one volunteer supporting the space, or a team of student interns. Each site is working on communication between garden volunteers and those that run the pantries to determine how to make the most of the harvests.

Ultimately, at a community garden site, the guiding question is how to make it helpful and useful to the site that it lives on, like a food pantry. To be successful toward any goal, it requires continued communication and problem solving amongst all involved parties.

Victory Garden Manual: An online resource coming soon!

Acknowledging that there is a real need to provide tangible support to home gardeners and community garden sites alike, and that there is something of value to share from the process undergone by FEED Kearsarge over the past three years, there will be a Victory Garden Manual crafted later this year.

This online resource will be a directory of sorts containing a growers guide for different types of victory gardens, garden designs and plans that could be built at home or a community garden site, and an outline of what a garden coordinator role and volunteer support could look like.

It will also provide insights on the technicalities of getting gardens started at community sites like food pantries, and which community players should be involved in the process. Other logistics will also be considered, like acquiring and funding seeds, plants, compost, and other garden amendments. 

The creation of this manual will provide an opportunity to outline what has worked so far in the Victory Garden Revival in the Kearsarge area, explore what doesn’t work, and ask questions around what we have yet to learn. 

We know these gardens can produce food, education, and connection in the community. And still, there are a lot of unknowns, mostly because these sites are living, breathing organisms. Between the plants growing in the garden and the people who manage and benefit from them, whether at home or in the community, gardens are fully animated and dynamic projects. But, as Amelia reminds us, there’s no such thing as failure in the garden. Only learning…and growing!

Additional Information

Stay connected with this ever unfolding project by joining the Kearsarge Food Hub mailing list here.

Check out another look at the Kearsarge Area Victory Gardens here in an article by Daisy Young: Kearsarge Area Cross Pollinates Community

Thank you to all that have supported the FEED Kearsarge endeavors, including these Victory Gardens, including (but not limited to):

• Vital Communities: Providing grant funding toward storage infrastructure at Warner Connects Food Pantry

• Kearsarge Community Network (KCN): A result of the UNH Cooperative Extension’s grant work in the Kearsarge region, funded by the USDA, geared toward building community resilience. This network is currently led by Carol Conforti Adams. Funding from UNH Cooperative Extension through KCN will be used to craft the online Victory Garden Manual, coming out mid-November.

• Kearsarge Neighborhood Partners (KNP): A FEED Kearsarge partner, KNP created a survey to gather feedback about the effectiveness of the Tray it Forward program and associated Victory Garden educational efforts. If you participated in the 2022 Tray it Forward program, you can take the survey here.