Oregon Log Homes and Wasco County Master Gardeners Step Up for Tygh Valley Head Start
South Wasco Alliance and Tygh Valley Head Start are partnering for a second year on a community gardening program. The program was piloted in 2021, with support from the Collins Foundation, the Columbia Gorge Food Bank, the Soil and Water Conservation District, OSU Wasco County Master Gardeners, and Lauren Kraemer and the OSU Family and Community Health program who have been supporting community gardening and food system development in South Wasco since early 2020.
This year, twelve families are participating in the 2022 program. None of this would be possible without generous support from Matt Kemper at Oregon Log Homes in Maupin and, for the second year, the Wasco County Master Gardeners, along with funding partners Columbia Gorge Food Bank, Soil and Water Conservation District and Collins Foundation.
When Matt learned the Head Start families needed raised bed frames, he created an easy-to-assemble design that needed no tools to complete. Within days, Matt delivered enough raised bed frames for the gardening program to kick off in May, as scheduled. New raised beds already have been installed and filled with soil at the Tygh School and Community Center (TSCC), ready for the Head Start kiddos to dig in and plant!
In the meantime, the Wasco County Master Gardeners have been hard at work raising vegetable starts to donate to the Head Start families as part of their ongoing greenhouse gardening mentorship program at the Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Juvenile Detention Facility (NORCOR). Together, Master Gardeners and juvenile detainees grow hundreds of varieties of annual and perennial plant starts, which are sold in May at the annual Spring Fair plant sale. Proceeds benefit both the Master Gardener Association and NORCOR Juvenile Detention. This program serves as a sustainable horticultural work-study relationship with in-custody youth. It provides the student detainees access to a hands-on learning environment to explore seeds, soils, irrigation, fertilization, as well as community-building and the opportunity to work as a team alongside knowledgeable adults.
This year, the Master Gardeners added vegetable starts, free of charge, to support kids and their families here in South Wasco. They also will be offering family-friendly activities over the summer at the new farmers market that is scheduled to open on Saturday, June 18. Markets will run every Saturday, 9am-1pm, from June 18 through September 24, 2022.
For more information, check out SWA’s website at: https://southwascoalliance.org/ or contact us at info@southwascoalliance.org.
