Youth & Family Services’ Garden Education Project
Rapid City, SD
605-342-4195
In 2014, Youth & Family Services’ (YFS) Garden Education Project began as several raised beds on a parking lot behind one of our facilities. Volunteers built the beds and educators implemented gardening activities with children from various YFS programs. That same year, Dale and Jackie Fullerton of Rapid City donated more than three acres of land in Box Elder, SD to YFS, which eventually became known as YFS’ Fullerton Farm. After years of cultivation, YFS’ Fullerton Farm now encompasses a sundry of a large fenced garden, raised beds, a high tunnel, five honeybee hives, an orchard, a pollinator garden, and other plantings life.
In 2019, YFS completed its 120 East Adams Street Facility Expansion Project. As part of this addition, YFS was able to build andequip has a large greenhouse classroom named the Mudge Family Garden Education Center. This room is equipped with hydroponics, aquaponics, and vermicomposting units and features areas for children to engage in hands-on learning. In addition to YFS’ Fullerton Farm and our greenhouse classroom, YFS has raised-bed gardens at all three of its facilities additional sites.
YFS’ Garden Education Project is in its first year of a USDA Farm to School grant. Our grant’s focus is on edible garden education and providing access to local produce to the youth and families that we serve. We accomplish these goals in a number of ways. Currently, YFS’ Garden Education Specialist facilitates weekly and or bi-weekly garden classes to more than 200 youth enrolled invarious YFS programs. Lessons engage youth in biology, ecology, horticulture, nutrition, culture, mindfulness, food systems, andleadership. Classes are hands-on, immersive, and designed to tap into youths’ curiosities about the world. YFS’ Garden Education Project has also hosted workshops for youth and families on topics such as container gardening, composting, making fire cider tonics, and cultivating mushrooms cultivation.
Our USDA Farm to School grant has enhanced our project throughout the past year, primarily through its guided action plan. We established a Garden Planning Committee that consists of with 12 members, ranging from producers to horticulturalists to passionate community members. Our project manager attended producer safety training, and with the guidance of a committee member, developed a food safety plan for our gardens and farm. We have also purchased produce directly from local farmers for youth to taste test. We hope the USDA will continue to support our project’s efforts in the Farm to School movement so we can continue to empower youth to become garden and healthy food advocates.