Sign Up Now for Winter-Spring Session!

It's time to get it going!

GroundUP Organics Winter Spring Session 

OPEN HOUSE   

Wednesday, February 29 

3:30 - 6:30PM 

Yesler Community Center | 917 E Yesler Way, 98122

Youth interested in registering for the program can fill out this pre-registration form HERE 

Come and learn about new program activities, meet old and new friends, and eat some good grub. We will have garden and classroom tours, answer questions on program activity and as always, have big fun!

GroundUP Organics is a pre-employment training workshop that offers stipends to youth who learn about SOIL, SELF AND COMMUNITY. Youth ages 14-19 are eligible to sign up and learn more about this exciting urban agriculture, food justice and leadership development program .

 Check out this video with GroundUP Organics founder Eddie Hill

It all starts from the GroundUP!

2011: What A Year!

2011 was an amazing year for the growth and development for GroundUP Organics. Over the course of 2011 we:

• Directly engaged 61 youth in our urban agriculture and urban planning pre-employment education and development programs learning about soil, self and community
• Reached an additional 200+ youth through presentations, collaborations and partnerships
• Launched our first urban farmstand at Yesler Terrace Garden Homes 
• Diverted 4.6 tons of  green waste in the neighborhood from local landfills
• Contributed 261 youth-powered volunteer hours to community groups and organizations throughout Seattle and Greater King County, WA
• Prepared Thanksgiving Dinner for 200 low-income residents 
• Grew nearly one ton of fresh vegetables including tomatoes, purslane, kale, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, chard, garlic, squash, corn, peas, onions and of course, collard and mustard greens!
• Had fun!

In partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation's STEP Program and Seattle's SYEP program, we worked with a host of great partners and friends. We had big fun partnering with our pals from the Just Garden Project, Green Plate Special, STARTS, Nature Consortium, Danny Woo Gardens, Parks' Watershed program and Seniors at the Yesler Terrace Community Garden.

We want to thank the scores of volunteers, adult mentors and in-kind donors along with Judi Carter, Property Manager at Yesler Terrace; Kay Godefroy, Seattle Neighborhood Group; Gwen Wessels and Ron Mirabueno, Becca Fong and Dave -Seattle Parks and Recreation;  Laura Dewell, Green Plate Special;  Jason Davison, Cortona Coffee, and the whole staff at Yesler Terrace Community Center. We are sure we've probably left someone out, and for that - apologies.

RED BLACK AND GREEN!

Hooray! A fundraiser for the youth of GroundUP Organics!

Join Seattle Green Drinks and Creatives4Community to launch the Red, Black & Green Drinks, a cultural community building hip happy hour. This event will explore social and regional sustainability, human and environmental health, social justice, micro-eco-investment, urban agriculture, green arts and sponsor local community green programs with the funds raised from our gatherings.



Date: Thursday, December 1
Time: 4:30PM
Location: Twilight Martini Lounge
2125 Western Ave.
Seattle, WA 98121
$10 in advance
$15 at the door

Drink Specials | Special Guest DJ | Bike Rider Bonus!

Tickets- www.brownpapertickets.com/event/210731

Fall is Bountiful

Fall at GroundUP has been absolutely fantastic! We welcomed 14 new (and some returning youth) to the program who are all eager to learn about Urban Farming, Food Justice and Urban Ecology with Team GroundUP through Seattle Parks and Recreation's STEP program.

Welcome Saleem, Lo Tajah, Malcolm, Anthony, Kevin, Bryson, TaiJae, Maria, Paolo, Julie, Mieesha,  Fatuma, Dominique and Lexus!

For the past 3 weeks we have harvested tomatoes, carrots, corn, kale, potatoes, peppers, onions, leeks, purslane, melons and beets. We've established 4 new compost bins and started a cooking program using freshly harvested food from the Yesler Garden. 
 
Fall is going to be busy for Team GroundUP as we will partner with several organizations to learn, share and celebrate food justice, urban ecology, and food literacy. Fall partners include Green Plate Special, C.R.A.V.E., the Mercer Middle School Gardening project, Danny Woo Children's Garden, Seattle University service learning students, and Bailey Gatzert Elementary School to name a few. 

As a special focus, GroundUP youth will work with the Yesler Terrace Community center to cook and serve the Thanksgiving dinner for over 200 community members serving traditional colonial food, indigenous foods from the many cultures in Yesler Terrace and a few classic deserts that are uniquely GroundUP.


Stay tuned, fall is filled with fun, learning and service and engagement with community. We thank Seattle Parks and Recreation's S.T.E.P program for providing stipends and additional support for the fall program.