Kitchen Garden Visit

I visited Project Host today in Greenville, SC along with friend Winnie, and Travis from the Golden Harvest Food Bank here in Augusta. We road tripped eager to learn more about how this Soup Kitchen/Culinary School runs their Kitchen Garden...The new Master's Table in Augusta has plenty of space for a Kitchen Garden. Brainstorming now for debut in the fall!

The Kitchen Garden contains an assortment of fruits, veggies and herbs. They are growing Jeresalum Artichokes in an area off to the side. Gail, Garden Host, told us these plants are good for diabetics in that they are not "sugary" like potatoes. That's a new one for me.

The Project Host Kitchen Garden was established in 1991, and is one of the first working Soup Kitchen gardens in the nation. The Mission of the garden is to "nourish with knowledge".

Here is the report in pics.

Jerusalem Artichokes above are in the Sunflower family with an edible tuber that makes a tasty relish! There are 16 raised beds and one large in-ground garden area filled with okra, tomatoes, basil, eggplant and peppers. Paths along the raised beds were neat and tidy, covered in chunky rocks. Greenville Master Gardeners work 2 Saturdays a month to maintain the clean look.

Squash and pumps are in the same family.I'd bet this is a cute little pump, but the Garden Host says it's a squash! What do you think?

Can you imagine how much Soup Kitchen food waste is sent to this compost bin every day?!

Travis was amazed when he saw the beautiful red jalapenos!

It was such an inspiring day! Knowing all of this is possible here in Augusta and the unlimited teaching opportunities!

Blessings from the Garden.

ML