Looking for Liz Number Two (& Three!)

Looking for a way to get more involved with your community and your natural surroundings?  Interested in learning organic gardening practices that maximize harvests?  Want to develop your professional skill set while also helping to create food security in the local area?

If so, you’re in luck because High Rocks Educational Corporation is looking to bring on two more AmeriCorps members for the High Rocks summer camp gardens and Grow Appalachia program with me, Liz!

As a Gardens & Grow Appalachia AmeriCorps member at High Rocks you will serve on a small team that plants, cares for, and harvests vegetables from the High Rocks garden and high tunnel for and with the campers of our summer camp program.  This goes hand in hand with broadening campers’ understanding of local healthy foods by providing hands-on education about how the food they eat gets to their plates.

Members will also assist with coordinating the logistics for gardening workshops throughout the season and with the distribution of gardening supplies to 50 local gardens through the Grow Appalachia program, which offers free gardening support and resources to local gardeners.

Member duties may include:

• Till and plant gardens so campers will have a variety of vegetables to care for and harvest
• Maintain gardens, also coordinate other AmeriCorps members in Garden Days and provide garden programming to high school students and adults
• Teach campers about healthy food, where it comes from, benefits of eating it, and how to prepare and cook it
• Teach campers how to plant, care for and harvest vegetables, including post-harvest handling
• Prepare harvest forecast reports for the cook, to facilitate incorporation of all available produce into the daily menu
• Communicate by email and phone with 50 local family, market and community gardens
• Schedule and assist with educational workshops on Garden Planting, Garden Maintenance, Healthy Cooking, Canning, and Season Extension, which the 50 gardeners are required to attend
• Assist with distributing tools, seeds, plants, fertilizer, irrigation and fencing supplies, mulch, and canning supplies
• Keep records of workshop attendance, supply distribution, and harvest reports for each vegetable grown by each garden, and compile for reporting
• Demonstrate gardening skills at workshops and camp chore time
• With your supervisor, strive to strengthen and integrate healthy food and gardening curriculum throughout our programs
• Prepare food for the federal feeding program meals and healthy snacks and meals at all events
• Bring wellness programming to High Rocks events–physical and mental wellness, healthy eating
• Deliver cooking, local foods, and youth entrepreneurship programming
• Writing and photography for blog, website, and other media
• Empowering participants and High Rocks girls to share their knowledge in the community
• Create and facilitate workshops, events, and other programming

Other projects include a food trailer for students to run their own business selling food at local events, a pop-up restaurant, and development of local food aggregation and distribution systems.  Ten of our gardeners are ready to sell produce and need assistance connecting with market opportunities.  Some AmeriCorps members may assist with trail building or trail maintenance.   They may also assist with teaching workshops on photography or robotics at our youth centers.  They will also coordinate volunteers.

Click to learn more:  What is AmeriCorps?

The position will begin March 1, 2017 and will end August 31, 2017, with the possibility of position renewal for the following year.  If you or anyone you know is interested or if you have any questions, please email us at growappalachia@highrocks.org, or give us a call at 304.653.4891!