WCG helps community members grow their own organic produce by providing garden space, resources, and education. We also provide support to independent garden projects, including educational resources, seeds/seedlings, and open-source garden development materials. We currently manage 18 community gardens through partnerships with Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, the City of South Salt Lake, and West Valley City. This number will increase to 19 gardens in 2024 with the opening of a new community garden at the Rose Park Neighborhood Center through a partnership with the Good Samaritan Foundation and Salt Lake City. 

In 2023, WCG-managed community gardens provided a total of 4.5 acres of land for growing fresh produce. These gardens served 640 individuals/households, 44% of which qualified as low- to moderate-income per federal standards. This included 55 gardeners of refugee background, who participated in our gardens through our partnership with the International Rescue Committee’s New Roots Program. Community gardeners grew an estimated 37,000 plants and produced ~80,000 pounds (40 tons) of organic produce with an estimated retail value of more than $200,000.

Youth & School Garden Program 

WCG connects children, families, and teachers to healthy, local food through hands-on, garden-based learning.

Program offerings at the WCG Campus include field trips with school groups, week-long summer camps through partnerships with other nonprofits, and weekly Youth Garden Club classes through a partnership with YWCA. Additionally, we provide specialized school garden programming and educational support to Salt Lake Valley schools, and we facilitate a School Garden Leadership Network to connect educators and other school garden community members through regular meetings and quarterly newsletters. Finally, through partnerships with Title I schools in the Salt Lake City School District, we offer Family Garden Gatherings programming aimed at engaging Hispanic/Latinx families in gardening and healthy eating.

In 2023, we provided 2,077 children and families with opportunities to grow, eat, prepare, and/or share fresh, healthy food. Programming included 53 field trips, including 39 groups from Title I schools, seven weeks of partner summer camps, and 47 Family Garden Gatherings events. We provided 2,459 healthy snacks to program participants and distributed 1,324 pounds of produce to participating families.

You can learn more about Wasatch Community Gardens by visiting their site, and following them on Instagram or Facebook.

Each year, SRSC donates thousands of seed packets to community organizations involved in education, farming, gardening, nutrition, food, and seed saving. 🌱📚🥕🍅