Volunteer Grow Getters seeks to educate and cultivate aspiring gardeners or farmers
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Jan. 3, 2023) — Growing Places Indy is excited to announce a new volunteer-based apprenticeship program, Volunteer Grow Getters, starting in the 2023 growing season.
The Volunteer Grow Getters program is a 10-month training program for learning to garden/farm in a community. Participants will grow through a full farm season, learning through interactive classroom lessons, guest experts, field trips, and hands-on farm and market work. Participants have opportunities to explore Indianapolis food and farm systems, communities and build their network.
The program includes a farm education series composed of interactive classroom sessions designed to coordinate with the growing season. Topics will include soil health, pest management, site design, winter production, as well as discussions of food justice throughout the duration of the program.
Through the Volunteer Grow Getters program, new farmers will be given resources and mentorship from the Growing Places Indy farm team to begin their farming journey and also join a community of other aspiring farmers for support.
Program applicants must be 18 years of age or older. The candidate must be able to commit an average of 12 hours per month from March to December and have an interest in urban agriculture or impacting the local food system.
This year we have a goal to educate people on the fundamentals of farming and gardening that can be used personally or professionally. In this process, we also hope to spark ways for folks to reimagine and reinvent what community means to them. We will incorporate a focus on individual and communal wellness and healing. We hope that this program will open participants to expanded ways of being.
Shalise Lee, Community Impact Director
Growing Places Indy believes urban agriculture can support the well-being of individuals and communities in several ways: develop local food systems, contribute to food security, promote economic growth, strengthen social integration, and improve urban biodiversity and environmental health.
Applications for the program are open and will be accepted until Feb. 3. After interviews, accepted applicants will be notified on Feb. 20, and the program will begin in early March. To apply to the program, visit https://www.growingplacesindy.org/volunteer-grow-getters.
