The Green Power Garden Story

The Mission  To compliment food programs in the Waukesha Area with fresh fruit and vegetables  Promoting healthy food choices, sustainability and self sufficiency Green Power Garden Green Power Garden Story

The Dream  Ken Miller and Sandra Roback envision a garden that could nourish the needy and provide a place to teach youth about gardening. Green Power Garden

2010  Ken Miller provides the land on his property on Milky Way road.  Sandra and her family and a variety of community members volunteer and the first garden is planted. Green Power Garden

The garden begins Green Power Garden

A true grass roots effort  Ken and Bobby Miller donated the use of their land, their tools, timber, water and use of an ATV.  Jim Porter plowed the land with a tractor loaned by Annette Larson.  The UW- Extension provided expertise and enabled Sandra Roback to enlist the help of the Master Gardeners.  John Steinke of Papa Steinke’s Greenhouse in Mukwonago donated unused plants. Green Power Garden

Volunteers  Janet Manke-Fischer and Barb Havas, certified Master Gardeners, provided their help and expertise  St. Paul’s Church  Holy Apostle’s 8 th grade track team  Brooklife Church in Mukwonago  Girl Scouts of Holy Apostles Church  Oakwood Church, Hartford  New Berlin Eisenhower High School Football team  Carroll University Students  UW-Waukesha Precollege Program  Waukesha North High School and Waukesha Central Middle School Precollege Participants Green Power Garden

Volunteer Activities  Pick and pull rocks  Grow seedlings  Plant seedlings  Stake tomatoes  Weed  Harvest  Build compost containers  Clear after fall harvest Green Power Garden

The 2010 Harvest  Nearly 2000 pounds of tomatoes, peppers, beans and squash were provided to the Hope Center and the Waukesha Food Pantry. Green Power Garden

The Clients  The Hope Center is a non-profit organization that has been providing hope to those in need in Waukesha County for more than twenty years.  Provides nutritious dinners on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 5:30 p.m. Men, women, and children in need are served.  Its Day Center program serves breakfast and lunch to clients who are homeless. Green Power Garden

2011  The Green Power Garden expanded, thanks to landowner Larry Spleas donating the use of two fields just down the hill from the original garden.  Ken and Bobby Miller again donated the use of their land, water and equipment.  Carroll University donated the use of their green house to start seedlings.  John Steinke of Papa Steinke’s Greenhouse again donated his unused onion and pepper plants. Green Power Garden

Volunteers  GE employees from the GE “I care” program  Master Gardeners  Fox River Church  Whitefish Bay Key Club  River Glen Christian Church-Youth Group  Westbrook Church- Families  St. William Church- Youth Group  Carroll University First Year Students  Whitefish Bay High School Key Club Green Power Garden

Without the guidance, effort and enthusiasm of the UW Extension Master Gardener Volunteers, Green Power Garden would not be successful. Green Power Garden

Volunteers Green Power Garden

Volunteers Green Power Garden

Carroll University First Year Students

Volunteer Activities  Plant seeds in the Carroll Greenhouse  Plant seedlings in three gardens  Create facebook page to communicate gardening plans  Stake tomatoes  Weed gardens  Harvest  Clear the gardens for next year  Work on publicity to gather more volunteers and community help Green Power Garden

The 2011 Harvest  Over 2460 pounds of vegetables: a variety of tomatoes, four kinds of beans, summer squash, winter squash, zucchini, eggplant, kohlrabi, broccoli, and a variety of peppers  A large of garden of pumpkins, grown for cooking, remain to be harvested soon. This is not included in our total! Green Power Garden

The Main Garden 4 kinds of beans planted and harvested : green, yellow, purple and heirloom Green Power Garden

Main Garden

Green Power Garden Main Garden

Green Power Garden Squash in the Main Garden

Green Power Garden Planting pepper plants in the third garden

Green Power Garden Pumpkins in the second garden

Green Power Garden Salad Days Through the efforts of the community, the Green Power Gardens provided locally grown produce for meals at the Hope Center. One of our special joys is knowing that “Salad Days” were created for the Day Center meal program. Three days a week, salads are served with meals, featuring the fresh tomatoes from the garden.

Green Power Garden Nutritious Snacks At the request of the Hope Center, yellow grape tomatoes were grown specifically to serve as nutritious snacks that clients could take with them.

Green Power Garden Composting Green Power Garden has set up a compost bin at the Hope Center. The scraps from the meals become the fertilizer for the garden. Creating a cycle of sustainability.

Volunteers Needed throughout the year  Planting of seeds in March  Watering and growing seedlings in April  Planting in late May  Weeding, staking plants, watering in June  Weeding and bean picking in July  Harvesting in August through October  Volunteer coordination and communication- all year round Green Power Garden

Our Dreams for the Future  A water source for the second and third gardens  A green house located next to the gardens  Volunteers who can teach children and adults about gardening, healthy eating choices and sustainability  More partnerships with youth organizations and those who need healthy food

Green Power Garden JOIN US IN THE GARDEN!