The Tools They Need
Our spring fundraising campaign is happening through June 4! Here’s one way we’re planting seeds together to create a healthy Missoula:
“My boys adore you,” Finn’s mom said in a text to Farmer Lori. “They love their time in the garden and they will never forget those moments.”
Lori was clearly touched as she shared this story with me, and in that moment, I felt the depth of Garden City Harvest’s work.
A school garden class celebrates learning outside!
In 2019, when Finn was in 4th grade, he met Farmer Lori for the first time. Lori is our head School Garden Manager. Over the next four summers, Finn made open garden hours part of his weekly routine. He wanted to spend his time digging in the dirt, sharing gardening ideas with Farmer Lori. He quickly settled in to the rhythm of the garden.
Often several people showed up at once for open garden hours, and Finn knew what to do. He naturally jumped in alongside Lori, showing visitors around the garden with ease. His love for the garden was clear and contagious. He encouraged folks to harvest food for their own tables. Farmer Lori was always grateful for his help and enthusiasm.
Over many hours tending the garden, Finn and Farmer Lori found a shared love for beekeeping. Last winter, he saved up money to buy his first hive, which he built from a kit. He just finished his first season as a beekeeper, and is now a member of Missoula’s beekeeping club, alongside Lori.
Recently, Finn’s mother reached out to Lori, to let her know the role she had played in Finn’s life. “To pay attention and treat him as an equal. Not look at him as a silly child. Words cannot express how much it means for him…You need to know the impact you’ve had on a life.”
You can make a difference in Missoula’s future by investing in this work today.
Magical connections happen often through the Farm to School program. In classrooms and school gardens, kids learn how banana peels and apple cores transform into compost to feed our plants. On farm field trips, they pull sweet, juicy carrots out of the ground, shake off the dirt, and eat them.
It’s easy for children to get caught up in the magic of the moment. To see someone embrace gardening as Finn has, building a connection with Farmer Lori, finding comfort and confidence in this work reminded me that, while the work we do is humble, it is powerful and lasting.
“What Garden City Harvest does goes so far beyond gardening. I’m so grateful we’ve had that opportunity in our community,” Finn’s mom concluded. I would add, I’m so glad we have students like Finn who take curiosity and run with it.
This proactive work plants seeds as young as kindergarten:
They learn plant life cycles, seed identification, and help plant their school gardens
They grind wheat into flour, and churn homemade butter
They hold chickens, and observe bees making honey in their hives
Students show up in our gardens ready to learn and grow every day. Our job is to be there with the tools they need to build confidence, spark creativity, and cultivate curiosity as they move through these critical years of development.
For the past 15 years, this program has taught thousands of children annually about regenerative agriculture, and about our connection to the land and the ecosystem around us.
Please join the generous community of donors investing in Missoula’s children with a gift today.