Stones Soup’s Garden
The Stone Soup Community Garden is a project that provides the best possible fresh & local food to people experiencing food insecurity in Fairbanks.
The garden’s first season, in 2015, harvested over 500 pounds of produce. The following year, harvest more than tripled! Ever since, the Stone Soup Community Garden has been growing & changing to meet need where it was at. Our garden now dedicates beds to an “eating garden” so hungry people can pick produce right at the source. We have also partnered with the Senior Center, Meals on Wheels program, ThrivAlaska & several local assisted living facilities to donate fresh, locally grown produce to those in need.
To learn more about the progress of the Stone Soup Community Garden, check out Sean Enfield’s article in the Fall 2021 edition of Edible Alaska! Sean talks about the “turnip that tastes like home” & that is our garden’s goal: to be a place where people feel safe & welcome. A place that provides food, compassion & community.
People Coming Together
The Stone Soup Garden near 12th and Lacey happened much like the Stone Soup story: people recognized a need and came together . With the help of Fairbanks Memorial Hospital to make the garden space available, donations from our supporters, and hands on work from our incredible volunteers, the Stone Soup Garden became a reality.
Our gratitude goes out to EVERYONE who makes this possible: the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital Foundation who generously donates the land, all the local farms & nurseries who donate plants (Calypso Farm, Bender Mountain Farm, Holmtown, Risse Greenhouse & the annual Fairbanks Hospice Plant Sale); The Folk School, who have built many beautiful raised beds, all the individual Fairbanksans who donate seeds, starts & time; the Fairbanks Water Company for donating the water to keep the garden growing so beautifully & EVERYONE else.
As Helen Keller wisely said,“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Together, we’re growing a better tomorrow at the Stone Soup Community Garden.
Volunteers and Donations are Needed
The success of Stone Soup Garden depends on volunteers like you helping with planting, watering, weeding, fertilizing & harvesting. Greens to roots, commUNITY is what makes our garden grow. We rely on donations of soil, fertilizer, starters & materials for raised beds.
Planting Day is the first Saturday in June & the last harvest is complete by early October. Every day in between could use your green thumbs.
Contact us if you can help. Call the Bread Line office at 907-452-1974, or drop a line to garden@breadlineak.org to get involved!
