Sprout City Farms

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United States
Denver, CO
Sprout City Farms

Cultivating educational urban farms to engage & strengthen communities, and root farmers in the city
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Mission & Vision

Sprout City Farms builds educational urban farms to engage communities, strengthen neighborhood resiliency, and root farmers in the city. We envision a thriving local food system supported by a network of accessible city farms which nourish, and are nourished by, their surrounding communities. Our farms serve as a platform for education, health, food justice advocacy, ecological

stewardship, community wealth building, vocational training, and neighborhood resiliency. Guiding Principles

Sprout City Farms believes that a thriving local food system is the foundation for healthy, resilient communities. We strive to ensure food-secure communities by developing and strengthening the local food system. We believe in…

Creating opportunities for residents of our farm communities to have equal access to fresh produce and the knowledge of how to produce it themselves. Caring for the land we farm in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible way, focusing on small-scale organic methods that encourage biodiversity, soil building, pollinator protection, and cultural heritage. Cultivating engaging community spaces where residents of all ages come together to build relationships around food. Creating opportunities for urban farmers to make a living growing food for their communities. Conserving scarce urban lands and/or maximize the potential of underutilized urban land for food production. Developing and leading a coalition of urban agriculture organizations to grow the local food movement and form a training pipeline for aspiring farmers and food systems advocates. We recognize that Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Tséstho’e (Cheyenne), hinono’eino’ biito’owu’ (Arapaho), and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ peoples are the traditional stewards of the unceded lands we are farming.

11/12/2024

Well, that was some storm last week! (In more ways than one.) Now that the snow is melting, we’d love to have volunteers come help us continue to clear out the fields for winter. Volunteer Fridays 10-12 at til November 22, or email [email protected] to volunteer at the solar farm in Longmont!
🍁

10/29/2024

It’s time for our annual Leaf Drive at community farm! Please drop your bagged leaves (paper bags preferred) inside the garden gate on Niagara Street. Our field and compost pile thank you!

10/25/2024

And that’s a wrap on our 20 week CSA program at Jack’s!! Thanks to all our members for a great season (fill out the survey to share your feedback!), to our hardworking farm crew, and also to the solar panels for providing the microclimates 😉
You can still find us at Longmont Farmers Market til Nov 16, Saturdays 8-1!
🍂🍁🍅🧅🥬🥔

10/18/2024

We just love running a school farm! Denver Green School students are learning about all kinds of things this month, from harvest and healthy snacking to composting and the change of seasons. They get to see farm veggies in the field and in the lunchroom for a full circle right on campus. Kids even come over regularly during their recess to volunteer with the farm crew! We 💚 you DGS 🤗

10/13/2024

Another great volunteer day at Mountair Park Community Farm with Le****ns for Good! They cleared out so many weeds (including some especially big ones!) to help us get ready for winter. We also made some lady bug friends! Thanks to all the ladies, human and insect!! 🐞👩🏻‍🌾🐞👩🏽‍🌾

10/08/2024

Thank you DeLaney Community Farm for hosting us for a visit! Project Worthmore is doing great work at their refugee-led farm in Aurora and we look forward to collaborating and supporting each other! Check out their weekly Food Share program (which can always use volunteer help Mondays through Wednesdays, year round) and other ways to get involved on their website www.projectworthmore.org 🙌🏼🙌🏽🙌🏾🙌🏿

09/26/2024

On Tuesday, the team from Pivot Energy came out to Jack's Solar Garden to help prep the garden for Colorado's first frost!

We love having teambuilding days for companies of all kinds out on the farms. We invite you to join us as we prepare for the first frost and closing out the farm season in the next month.

Time is running out to schedule opportunities within the 2024 farm season (though workdays will of course be available in the 2025 farm season), and we'll take as many helping hands as we can get!

Contact [email protected] for Denver Green School Community Farm, [email protected] for the Farm at Jack's Solar Garden, or [email protected] for Mountair Park Community Farm, and get your team out on the farm!

09/24/2024

This weekend's Night on the Farm - even the wet and cold couldn't stop us from having a great time!

We hosted folks from all parts of our community and had a phenomenal time enjoying the abundance of Denver Green School Community Farm. Thank you to our friends and partners Chef Andrea Condes of Four Directions Cuisine , Chefs Tim and Erin Kuklinski of , and for so much deliciousness on site. The silent auction and booze pull were made possible due to more generous folks than we can name in one place. Confluence Music Group once again brought dance to the party!

Special shoutout to our sponsors at the Colorado Health Foundation, Colorado Trust, and Gates Corporation for helping us make this event pay-what-you-can for the first time so that there wasn't a financial barrier for our community members.

We'll be posting more photos from the night as they come, thanks to our wonderful photographers, Linda Hanselman and Hannah Skewes!

09/18/2024

We hope you've been soaking up the sweet and slow transition from summer to autumn the way our sunflowers have!! 🌻🌻🌻

Celebrate the flourishing season with us this Saturday from 5:30-8pm at our annual Night on the Farm at Denver Green School Community Farm - don't miss the last chance to snag tickets! 🎟

https://sproutcityfarms.org/night-on-the-farms

09/16/2024

We had SO much fun at Old 121 Brewhouse last week!!!! 🍻

From farm-themed trivia to catching up over beers, a few of our staff and board joined Lakewood friends and MAP community members for brews and laughs.

Trivia winners even got two free tickets to the Night on the Farm at DGS Community Farm THIS SATURDAY - we're so excited to have them out with us. (Time is running out to attend, so get your tickets today!)

Sprout City Farms is still Old 121's nonprofit partner for the month of September, which means you can continue to support your local community farming nonprofit while having a yummy drinks through the end of the month! 🍺

09/12/2024

Please welcome our newest team member, DGS Community Programs Manager, Jonathan!

He may be a new addition to staff, but he's a familiar face for the Denver Green School Community, as he has worked for both Denver Green School as a kindergarten "para" for several years and DGS Community Farm apprentice in 2023. Affectionately known as "Mr. Jonathan" to DGS students (and some adults), he is already a staple member of our community.

As Community Programs Manager, he will be leading education and food access programing for the Denver Green School Community Farm.

Read more about Jonathan in his bio on our website, and be sure to say hi the next time you see him!

09/11/2024

This past Saturday, we joined hundreds of nonprofits around the country in participating in a national check presentation ceremony with the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation!

SCF's Development Associate, Lindsay, was able to visit our nearest Sprouts location and share with their team a bit about our farms, and how the Foundation contributes to the work!

While Sprout City Farms has the tendency to get mixed up with the grocery store, every time someone asks if we're connected, we get to clarify that while SCF is a separate institution, we have an amazing partnership between the two organizations!

Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation supports the farm-fresh food distribution at each of our sites, farm-to-classroom education at Denver Green School Community Farm, and the agrivoltaic farming at Jack's Solar Garden.

Partnerships like these make Sprout City Farms possible, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of a nationwide award distribution alongside so many other amazing nonprofits!

09/05/2024

Who's ready for fall?! 🍂🍁

Our farmers are LOVING the cooler morning temps that promise the upcoming shift of seasons! Make the most of the weather with us by wrapping up your week at Denver Green School Community Farm!

Tomorrow (Friday), the crew will be hosting our weekly drop-in volunteer hours from 9-12, then a community Lunch and Learn 12:30-1:30 about Soil and the Mycelium Network led by the neighborhood "mushroom man", James! 🍄 It'll also be a great opportunity to meet our new DGS Community Programs Manager, Jonathan (formal intro to come, but here's a hint - he's a familiar face for many members of the DGS community!).

See you on the farm! 🧑‍🌾👩‍🌾👨‍🌾

09/04/2024

We are so excited to announce this year's menu for the Night on the Farm! Chefs Alex, Andrea, Tim, and Erin will be cooking up delicious hors d'oeuvres and filling small plates with produce straight from the farms.

On September 21st at Denver Green School Community Farm, Night on the Farm attendees can look forward to:
- Roasted Leeks with Bagnetto & Almond
- Chilled Corn Soup with Basil
- Papas with Pesto & Amaranth
- Vichyssoises with Crispy Leeks & Herb Oil
- Pepper Goat Cheese Toast
- Collard Greens
- Smashed Cucumbers
- Quinoa Salad
- Fruit Frangipane Tart
- Corn Panna Cotta with Caramel

Multiple dietary restrictions are accounted for throughout the and will be clearly labeled, but please be sure to include any restrictions or needs in your ticket order so we can accommodate accordingly. Our chefs are the best and will make sure that everyone has plenty to eat!!

We're less than THREE WEEKS AWAY from the Night on the Farm, so don't wait to get your tickets!!

ADDITIONAL NOTE: ticket sales are now available in multiple tiers through the link in our bio. Our community makes Sprout City Farms' work possible, so we don't want pricing to be a deterrent for anyone to be able to celebrate the farm season with us!

Want to help us behind-the-scenes? Ask about volunteering by emailing our Development Director, Brooks, at [email protected] (event experience preferred)!

09/03/2024

Sprout City Farms and Old 121 Brewhouse are partnering for a fundraiser!

Join us next Thursday, September 12th for a beer or two (or more, if you’re not driving), as $1 per pour of the Old 121 nightly selection will be donated to Sprout City Farms throughout the evening.

Both their Hazy Pale Ale and Coconut Hefe brews will be designated for SCF, so you can support your local farmers whether you like your beer hoppy or not!

Adding to the fun is some farm-themed trivia!!

Trivia begins at 7PM, and includes questions from our farm teams themselves. Winner gets two free tickets to SCF’s upcoming Night on the Farm on September 21st!

Great, local beer and great, local impact in one night? It doesn’t get better than that. Cheers!! 🍻

09/02/2024

Happy Labor Day!

Sprout City Farms wouldn't be possible without the labor of our staff, and Labor Day wouldn't be possible without the workers rights activists who came before us (and who are still doing the work! Shoutout to the United Farm Workers for their historic and ongoing efforts to support farmworkers).

We hope you're taking this long weekend to rest, recharge, and maybe even find joy cooling down with a hose.

08/30/2024

Happy Friday!! Our farmers have been busy busy bees 🐝 and it's been all-hands-on-deck for harvest season. With the help of volunteers to crew swaps to good old fashioned teamwork, we learn again and again that it really takes a village to raise a chard (and harvest it, and clean it, and distribute it... you get the picture) 🥬

Don't forget to stop by the Longmont Farmers Market at tomorrow (Saturday) from 8-1 to get your weekly veggies grown under the solar panels! ☀

Boulder County Farmers Markets

08/26/2024

Sprout City Farms is a helping hand for the fall! Join the Jack's Solar crew to help us as we harvest this year's abundance and close out the farm season.

Check out our website to learn more and apply today!!

https://sproutcityfarms.org/join-our-team

Address

6700 E Virginia Avenue
Denver, CO
80224

Telephone

+17202953217

Website

http://sproutcityfarms.org/

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Videos

CSA Prep at Jack's Solar Garden

There's something special about preparing for CSA that we just don't get tired of 🥬🥦🥒

Take it from some of our staff and volunteers: today is Colorado Gives Day!!!! This year, we are looking to raise $10,000 by the end of the day! Sprout City Farms has spent all season nourishing our community, and as we wrap up the year, we ask that you take this opportunity to nourish us! Members of our previous and current Board of Directors are making this goal even easier - they’re matching all donations up to $5,000! We’re already halfway there!! While we're still calculating the final numbers of impact from the farm season, our team is celebrating some major successes across our three farm sites: - Grew over 25,000 pounds of vegetables with organic farming methods, - Engaged nearly 6,000 individuals - including feeding over 3,000 of our community members! - through education, food access, and community outreach programs - 57% of our total harvest was allocated to food access through no-cost CSAs, donation-based farm stands, Farm-to-Cafeteria programs, and food pantry donations! Join us in celebrating these milestones and helping us end the year strong by donating to our #ColoradoGivesDay campaign through the link below. It takes a village to raise a chard! https://www.coloradogives.org/organization/SproutCityFarms

Like many other Lakewood growers, we were clobbered by hail and flooding at Mountair Park Community Farm last Thursday evening. Then, adding insult to injury, while we were walking the fields assessing the damage Friday morning, it started to hail again!! The storms over the last 2 months have been relentless across the Front Range and our hearts go out to all affected. We actually lost count, but think we've seen hail more than 10 times at MAP this spring 🤯 This latest one hit pretty hard, with many plants down to just a stem 😭 We will reseed and replant and hope some things will bounce back... though it can be difficult to stay optimistic in the face of such devastation, knowing how much this sets back our ability to distribute food to our community. But the silver lining: in the local farmer community, we feel each other's pain and we RALLY. Our farmer friends far and wide immediately responded to our plea for plants--we are thinking through how many of our 600 tomato plants may need to be replaced, for example--and we are all sharing tips about how to help the plants recover, what to replant, where to focus energy. There's a general we're-here-for-each-other morale boost going on. ✊✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾 Thank you everyone for the support, and keep it comin! People out there: buy from producers at your local farmers market/farm stands, come out to volunteer in the field, hug a farmer. This has been a particularly challenging and emotional roller coaster of a season so far, and summer has only officially just begun. But we'll keep at it if you all stick with us ☺️❤️‍🩹 You can help our farmers recover by donating to support the costs of replacing many of our plants. You can give as a one-time or monthly donation at this link: https://www.coloradogives.org/donate/SproutCityFarms #hail #hailno #hailstorm #denver #lakewoodcolorado #farmingincolorado #urbanfarming #milehighfarmers #mountairparkcommunityfarm #sproutcityfarms #climatechange #sol

Denver Green School second graders hatched chicks 🐣 in May and they are getting so big! Soon they will move into their brand new coop outside! Check back for more updates soon. 🐥

We had such a fun day bringing the MAP crew and Development Team to DGS for an all crew day! We got leeks and onions planted and patched up our irrigation system! #teamworkmakesthedreamwork

Third graders at Denver Green School know all about team work and sing it loud and proud! We love our students!

Let's welcome local beekeepers Katie and Rodney to the Denver Green School community! Thank you for sharing your bees and your knowledge! Video by Rodney!

Our friend and farmer Angelica was named a local Everyday Hero on Denver7 news! We're exciting to be providing even more fresh food to Metropolitan State University of Denver students by expanding our partnership with Rowdy's Corner this season - thanks to Angelica's hard work and deep care for the MSU community! We are happy to announce that Angelica will be returning to Sprout City Farms for her third season at Mountair Park Community Farm! First an intern, then apprentice, and now an Assistant Farm Manager at MAP, we are thrilled to have such a decidated person on our team. Keep it up, Angelica!! Read more about the work happening at #rowdyscorner at this link: https://www.denver7.com/news/7everyday-hero/helping-students-find-healthy-fuel-for-their-bodies-is-passion-for-fellow-college-student

Squash Blossom!

We hope you are enjoying the fresh vegetables from your share this week! At Denver Green School we harvested squash blossoms with the help of a friend 🐝 What will you make with your share?