Success and build-up of the sustainable Plano Community Garden (2005 to now).

1. Plano Community Garden
Plano Provides
Tajana Mesic
2009 Assistant Chair of the Project

2. Plano Community Garden

3. Plano Community Garden’s Mission
• To collaborate with community volunteers to
donate harvested produce to local food pantries,
to provide community service opportunities, and
to educate the community on horticultural
stewardship and sustainable practices.
• It promotes volunteerism and provides education
for preschoolers through adults.
• The educational outreach focuses on organic
gardening and water conservation.

4. History
• A joint venture initiated in 2005 by Junior
League of Plano, City of Plano, and volunteer
gardeners, the Plano Community Garden’s
mission is to “collaborate with community
volunteers to donate harvested produce to
local food pantries".

5. Gardening for the young and the young-at-heart
Scouts: Be prepared to pitch in
Breaking bread and building community

6. Giving back to the Plano community
• Many food pantry clients must rely on canned
or dried goods for their nutritional needs.
• The Plano Community Garden provides local,
organically grown produce as a seasonal
supplement to client diets.
• Access to fresh produce helps to increase
overall health while reducing healthcare costs
associated with diet-related deficiencies.

7. Teaching Garden
• The garden operates as a teaching facility to
address environmental concerns. Volunteers
learn about improving soil fertility through
composting, water conservation, and recycling.
• By encouraging “green gardening” practices like
rainwater harvesting and integrated pest
management, they have re-established a natural
wildlife area on an empty acreage previously
used for parking heavy equipment and vehicles

8. Cross-Cultural and Inter-Generational
Connections
• The garden also provides cross-cultural and
inter-generational connections by engaging
volunteers from different backgrounds and
cultures.
• By working together to care for the garden,
youth, teens and adults have built a service-
oriented community where building life-skills
and personal relationships are key.

9. Garden Now

10. Garden Maintenance
• Gardeners and community volunteers meet
once per month for a 3-hour Saturday
workday to work in the garden and do any
necessary garden maintenance (weeding,
mulching, repairs, general garden
maintenance).
• Mostly up to 50 volunteers from community
organizations including Junior League of
Plano.

11. JLP Participates in the Workday

12. Harvest
• In 2009, the PCG harvested 2,339 pounds of
fresh organic produce, donating most of the
produce to the Plano Food Pantry.
• Harvest included lettuce, onions, chard,
mustard greens, green beans, spinach, Swiss
chard, tomatoes, leeks, radishes, potatoes,
squash, cucumbers.

13. Collaborative Effort
• The Junior League and the City of Plano promote
the garden on their websites.
• Plano Community Gardeners manage a Yahoo!
Group to communicate, store information and
share pictures.
• Progress is discussed during monthly workdays
and bimonthly community meetings.
• The City of Plano includes information about the
garden in their Live Green in Plano newsletter
and monthly reports on community
volunteerism.

14. Community Outreach
• To promote the garden and to encourage
community involvement, the Junior League of
Plano organizes two events each year -
Pictures in the Wildflowers in April and
Pictures in the Pumpkin Patch in October.
• These afternoons of kid-friendly activities
provide Plano families the opportunity to
learn about the garden and to reconnect with
nature.

16. Questions?