Stone’s Soup Garden
Stone Soup Garden is a community garden project that provides the best possible fresh and local food to the guests of Stone Soup Cafe.
We want to increase food security for people in need. Our goal is to grow 2,500 lbs of local food for the more than 25,000 meals we serve each year.
In the garden’s first season in 2015, we harvested over 500 pounds of produce. In 2016, the harvest more than tripled. The official tally of fresh, healthy food provided to Stone Soup Cafe was 1,606 pounds.
2021 harvested 975lbs of produce for the Stone Soup Cafe soup kitchen. However, much more found its way directly into bellies. Our garden dedicates several beds as an “eating garden” so hungry people can pick produce right at the source. We also partnered with the Senior Center’s Meals on Wheels program, ThrivAlaska & several local assisted living facilities to donate an additional 400lbs of fresh, locally grown produce to those in need.
For more information on the growth of the Stone Soup Community Garden, check out Sean Enfield’s article in the Fall 2021 edition of Edible Alaska!
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.
One Saturday several volunteers were working in the garden when two of our guests walked through. As they talked together, the volunteer said she was so impressed, there had been no vandalism. The guest replied “We know what this food is for. We would never harm it.”
Volunteers and Donations are Needed
The success of Stone Soup Garden depends on volunteers helping with planting, watering, weeding, fertilizing and harvesting. We also rely on donations of soil, fertilizer, starters, and materials for planters and raised beds.
We begin planting in mid-May, and our harvest is complete by early October.
Please Contact Us if you can help. Call the Bread Line office at 452-1974, or use the form to contact the Stone Soup Garden Crew.
Contact the Garden Crew
