DUG Creates Community Through To-Grow Boxes

For many, this quarantine is forcing us to stay home more than ever before. Feel like you’re running out of inventive ways to spend your time? Perhaps it’s time to grab a To-Grow box and spend some quality time with mother Earth!

Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) have partnered with Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation to develop a new program called To-Grow Boxes to provide a resource for folks who want to start an at-home garden. Through a generous donation of $40,000 from Sprouts to help support the program, they have prepared 1,000 kits for people to develop their green thumb and feed themselves over the coming months.

Niko Kirby, the communications consultant for DUG, said that this program was developed around an initial conversation around Victory Gardening, which was a way of stabilizing food shortages during World War I and II during the intense time of economic turmoil. After doing some research and discovering some of the racial injustices that existed with victory gardens, DUG decided to deviate from the original name, but keep the spirit of getting food to the masses. By mobilizing people through neighborhood plots, this idea sparked the creation of To-Grow boxes.

Packed with almost 20 varietals of seed and seedling vegetables like Swiss chard, sweet peppers, carrots, and cucumbers, the box also comes with a garden plot layout designed by DUG senior landscape architect Michael Buchenau and an English-Spanish Care Guide. Additionally, the program is paired with an online portal of additional resources and a community forum for connection.

“The thing that feels most compelling and unique about this program is that we are really encouraging people to develop community,” Kirby explained.

As the majority of the world has taken to online as a way to build community as social distancing practices are in place, DUG has taken their grow boxes digital as well and are providing a plethora of resources to ensure gardeners successes.

“One of the things that we’re most excited [about] is that, unlike a lot of situations where you might just get some plants and feel excited and watch a YouTube video, but then it’s like, what happens next? We’re guiding our gardeners through the process, from the day they pick up their kits until they finish their gardens for the season,” she said.

The online hub is a place for educational resources as well as a special portal for To-Grow box purchasers to share tidbits, tricks and to share photos with each other as the harvest blooms. Kirby explained that through this process of growing food and connecting with community, folks can feel empowered and a part of something bigger than themselves.

DUG currently operates more than 188 community gardens throughout Metro Denver, including more than 74 school-based community gardens. Many of these gardens are in underserved Denver-Aurora neighborhoods which have been hit the hardest in a variety of ways including job displacement and access to quality food during the pandemic.

“This is not just for fun; this is because it’s essential for people’s lives,” said Dr. Violeta García, executive director of DUG. “I’m hopeful that the To-Grow Boxes will be an empowering step for these communities to find resiliency in this time of crisis.”

In addition to self-empowerment and developing a culture of sustainability, we know that there are many other benefits to getting down and dirty in the garden. Research has proven that moving our bodies while doing outdoor activities is good for the mind, body, and spirit.

Soil bacteria has been suggested as a way to activate brain cells into producing and releasing serotonin, suggesting that the immune system can balance and help folks who are more vulnerable to mood disorders, such as depression.

Psychology Today lists several reasons why gardening is even beneficial on a psychological level. In a time when everything feels out of control, the unpredictability of weather patterns and growth cycles can help us develop a mindful acceptance of doing our best and letting the universe take over. Being present amid the greenery is also linked to physical healing and reducing stress as well.

Kirby said that all one needs in order to be successful with the To-Grow boxes is a desire to learn, and that DUG has got all the tools needed in each and every box.

“In this community spirit, gardening truly is for everybody. It’s not just one kind of person that could be a fan of gardening, and in some ways, we hope that we’ll not only be expanding our community of gardeners, but helping people connect to one another and find some commonalities,” she said.

Don’t have a yard of your own to dig in to? Not a problem! While the boxes come with a 10 x 10 plotting layout, people can grow in a variety of combinations, from raised beds on a balcony to individual containers. Still doesn’t sound like a great option for your limited square footage? DUG can connect folks to a community garden in their neighborhood and provide access to a communal space.

With 1,000 To-Grow boxes ready to sell, the price tag is set at $250; however, Kirby went on to explain that the cost is two-fold. It is a buy-one, give-one model, so out of the first 100 boxes sold, another box will be donated to a family in need. Secondly, each box yields two seasons worth of produce. With a plotting plan for both May and July, the early summer crops can be replanted for a fall harvest.