Welcome to Families in the Garden

Hi Everyone!

I have set up this blog to highlight the work that people in Delridge are doing to improve food security through gardening. It will share stories from 8 different affordable housing properties at which residents are in the process of learning about, building, and/or maintaining edible gardens as a source of food. Each property is at a different stage and has different backgrounds, needs, ideas, assets, and goals in relation to growing food. This ranges from having a well-established garden maintained diligently by nearly half of the residents, to establishing design ideas for a future garden and gathering resources.

My hope is to simply share the happenings, accomplishments, and stories from the community as the adults and children engage in their gardens. This will encompass garden building projects, events & activities, plantings & harvests, sustainability efforts, childrens' garden classes, and the occasional post on general food security issues. I hope to update weekly, and to put a high priority on posting pictures, especially of all the vegetables growing, of group work parties, and projects the kids are doing.

Stay tuned!

A brief background:
Delridge is a neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, just west of the Duwamish river and north of White Center. As a community, Delridge has been historically underinvested, with few businesses operating within the neighborhood. Over half of the residents are people of color, twice the national average, and almost 40% speak a language other than English in the home. Delridge falls just below the national average for high school completion, and 15% of families live below the poverty level, compared to 9% of families across the country.

The Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association aims to create a thriving Delridge, and work towards creating more equitable systems. Currently, there is a lack of healthy, whole foods within reasonable distance for most families. The Family Gardening Program works with adults and children in the community to learn about, build, and maintain edible garden spaces as a source of healthy produce.

Thanks for reading, and I hope that you find this blog as valuable as I find this work.