The Janet S. Munt Family Room: Family Play at the Garden (Ethan Allen Homestead)

2023 Update:

From May - September 2023, The Family Room offered our largest, and most expensive, program, “Family Play” at the Garden (Ethan Allen Homestead). There are various components to Family Play at the Gardens that have benefits for families. Many of our families come from immigrant backgrounds, so growing their own food and being supported by the community and our partners and supports a way of living and connecting that is familiar from their own cultures.

In addition to the fresh, organic, and nutritious foods, growing fresh food supports families’ mental health as well. Many families live in spaces such as apartment buildings where they wouldn’t be able to grow their own food, have limited access to the outdoors, or they don’t have the means or supports to grow their own food. This applies to many of our families, not just immigrants and refugees. Some families who have never gardened before, and they enjoy learning how to start one and they learn about growing from other families.

In addition, they are saving money and understanding where their food is coming from. Learning how to prepare food from surplus crops helps families stretch their budgets. For many of us, when we don’t know how to cook or prepare a food, we may throw it away or not access it. Families also share food with each other. Family Play at the Gardens also acts as a gateway to other programming and wrap-around services. As staff get to know families, it might become clear that they could benefit from other Family Room programs, or staff might realize the family is experiencing food insecurity and help them get SNAP benefits, or identify developmental concerns with children and work with parents to refer them to another agency with a warm handoff. The trust that builds up leads to many other roads of support.

As we’ve done for many years, The Family Room provided healthy meals and our garden program gave families the opportunity to grow their own food with a variety of supports. We provided plants, starters, compost, hay, childcare while parents work in the garden, and engaging outdoor activities (see below). We also provided transportation from our Allen Street location to the garden for families who couldn’t otherwise get there because there is no public transportation to the Ethan Allen Homestead.

This season, we hosted workshops organized and facilitated by our partners from WIC and the VT Garden Network including salsa and tortilla making, pesto that the kids get to really have fun with grinding herbs with mortar and pestle and other ways to make food. We made Spring rolls, sun teas, butter, herb butters, pancakes, flatbreads, smoothies with City Market’s Smoothie BIke, and had a Burmese Salad demo.

The VT Foodbank offered workshops to teach families how to cook different food and provided recipes for local food crops. Other partner organizations included USCRI with Conversational English Class with Sherry Star, story time with Peter Burns from the VT Humanities Council (and he also gave us some plants), VT Department of Health with summer safety. WIC talked about hydration and gave out Farm to Family Coupons Foodbank brought the gleaned produce and gave out Crop Cash vouchers. WIC also organized a natural tick and mosquito information and resource session, and Vicki Mascareno-Nelson from the UVM Medical Center came twice to tag-team with the tick/mosquito workshop and also brought water bottles to give out.

We had a natural dye workshop, multiple large painting activities, made paper hats, planted herbs, and took nature walks. On top of all that, we sometimes practice yoga and dance!

We once again enjoyed the support of dozens of volunteers who helped weed, plant, and water gardens with/for families. The Winooski Valley Park District and Burlington Area Community Gardens continued to grant us the space, and Red Wagon Plants and Arcana Gardens continued to gift us free plants to give away to families.

 

2022 Grant Amount: $5,000

The Family Room has supported families by providing food for many years. This has been done not only by providing nutritious meals at programs for families, but also by providing fresh produce and other necessary goods for participants to take home.  During the pandemic, we delivered large boxes of food containing grains, fruits, vegetables, oil, sugar, and other necessary cooking foods to 150 families per week. As we continue to provide healthy meals, our garden program allows families to grow their own food with a variety of supports.  We provide plants, starters, compost, hay, and childcare while parents work in the garden. We also provide transportation to the garden for families who may not otherwise be able to get there, as there is no public transportation to the Ethan Allen Homestead. 

We have held workshops organized and facilitated by our partners from WIC and the Vermont Community Garden Network. The workshops have included salsa and tortilla making, pesto that helps the kids enjoy grinding herbs with mortar and pestle, and other ways to make food. The Vermont Foodbank has also done workshops on familiarizing families with cooking different food and providing recipes for local food crops. In addition, volunteers come help weed, plant, and water gardens with or for families. The space is granted to us by the Winooski Valley Park District. Red Wagon Plants of Hinesburg continues to gift us with free plants to give away, as well. Other programming components include nature walks, singing & playing with children, building community, getting families outside, summer safety workshops, yoga, and dancing. 

There are various components of this program that are beneficial for families. Many of our families come from immigrant backgrounds and the ability for them to grow their own food while being supported by the community helps to build a culture that is both healthy and familiar. The food grown by the families we serve is fresh, organic, and nutritious. Growing the food supports their mental health as well. Many families live in spaces where they would not be able to grow their own food due to living in apartment buildings or not having the means to grow their own food. This applies to most of our families, not just immigrants and refugees.  This program offers some families who have never gardened before the opportunity to learn how to start their own and learn from others.  Not only are they growing their own food, but they are saving money and knowing where their food is coming from. Learning how to prepare food from surplus crops also helps families stretch their budgets.  For many of us, if we don’t know how to cook or prepare a particular kind of food, we may throw it away or not access it.  Families also share food with each other. The plots aren’t very big, so there are some limitations as to how much and how many foods a family can grow. Also, the families who come to our program have access to other supports, including food and resources.  Each program is a doorway leading to more support for the whole family.