Farming Falmouth To Start Garden For Falmouth Service Center — May 5
Work on Farming Falmouth’s new garden for the Falmouth Service Center has already begun. GILDA GEIST/ENTERPRISE
By GILDA GEIST May 5, 2023
from the Enterprise
Farming Falmouth won a $5,000 grant from Martha’s Vineyard Bank that will be used to build a garden where all produce will go to the Falmouth Service Center.
The winners of the MV Bank Community Impact Grant were announced last week, and Farming Falmouth was one of four. The garden will be built at Tony Andrews Farm, next to where Farming Falmouth has a community garden already.
Kerin Delaney, executive director of the Falmouth Service Center, said fresh produce is one of their most popular food items among clients.
“We are just beyond thrilled,” she said.
Each year, community members vote online for who they think should win the Community Impact Grant. Farming Falmouth made flyers for the service center to put into all of their clients’ food bags encouraging them to vote, Ms. Delaney said.
“They were very excited about supporting us,” Farming Falmouth vice president Ellie Costa said.
In part, growing needs at the Falmouth Service Center inspired the idea for this garden, according to the Farming Falmouth website. Demand had been increasing at the service center since COVID-19, and it hit a record number of households served this past November: 472 in a week.
According to Farming Falmouth, the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits at the Falmouth Farmers’ Market increased 58 percent last summer.
Farming Falmouth has started early work constructing the garden. This year, members want to clear the land, enrich the soil and plant a test plot. Next year they will put the entire field into production.
