Here are some updates for you about our garden. We have brought some significant changes to our operations for this year:

GARDEN

We usually encourage people to visit our garden at any time of the day and harvest for themselves. However, this year, our garden will be closed to anyone but RPIRG staff until further notice.

We are expanding our garden by adding more containers.

We are hoping to plant more than the last year!

GARDEN CHAT

Many folks stop by our garden and talk about gardening, give us advice, and learn gardening if they are beginners. This year, we will have garden chat online. Every Friday, from 9 am to 1 pm; the garden coordinator will be available to video chat with you and walk you through the garden. Please stay tuned for more details on this.

ONLINE WORKSHOP

We will be organizing two or more online workshops for you this year. You will get more information later in the season, so stay tuned! If you would like to suggest a workshop or social event that you or some friends would be interested in organizing (showing a tour of your own garden, teaching how to cook some items we grow, etc.) please get in touch with us and we would be happy to chat.

FREE PRODUCE

RPIRG has been growing food for our community for the last nine years. Our garden produce has been open and free for everyone. But this year, we will be prioritizing our students and people who are most vulnerable. That being said, a large percentage of vegetables will be given away to our students and individuals who in need. The rest of them will be donated to Carmichael Outreach Inc.

How can you pick up the produce while garden is closed?

– Starting in July, we will be having some kind of system on campus with packets of produce. We will provide more details on this later. This system will accommodate doing some deliveries for those who cannot pick up food.

More information will be available in June.

GARDEN TOUR

– If you want to connect your students or family to our garden while staying home, you can book for a virtual garden tour. Email us at garden@rpirg.org for an arrangement.

VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES

At green patch:

Green Patch has been active for our hard-working volunteers. We will be missing the group of volunteers working in the garden in the coming weeks.

We are working with the university to ensure the safety of any potential volunteers later in the season, and staff. When we start distributing produce, there may be some opportunities for volunteers to help with packaging and delivering food.

At home:

We are working on giving you some opportunities to volunteer while staying at home. Some ideas are listed below:

– Share your gardening experience through Facebook live

– Help us with outreach.

– Help us with designing our online posters

– Video editing

– Hosting cooking show.

If you are interested in joining our volunteer list to receive updates, please contact us.

To get in touch with us, visit our Facebook page often, keep your eyes on the Facebook/Instagram stories.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/rpirggarden

If you have any ideas or suggestions for our garden, please message us on Facebook or email at garden@rpirg.org!