A Look Back on 2021

While our education programs run all year long, the arrival of the colder months mark a time for reflection and planning here at ROOTS. We complete our final vegetable harvests of the year, put the school gardens to bed with cover crops and hay, and our Mobile Market season ends in October as our local farmers recuperate before another growing season.

Looking back on 2021, the year kicked off with an exciting spring. This year we:

  • Hosted our first Spring Break Camp in April with 30 middle school students who grew seedlings for all of New Britain’s school gardens

  • Installed 20 handicapped accessible raised beds for senior New Britain residents thanks to funding from AARP Connecticut

  • Hosted our largest seedling sale to date with the Senior Center ROOTS garden club; we grew over 60 varieties of vegetables, flowers, and herbs for sale to our community

As gardeners and farmers know first hand, once our gardens are planted, the sprint through the growing season begins. Throughout our busiest months we:

  • Sold over 1,300 pounds of locally grown produce on our Mobile Farmers Market, including 500 pounds of produce grown in New Britain school gardens

  • Donated over 1,000 pounds of produce to New Britain food pantries

  • Celebrated the return to in-person hands-on learning during our summer and fall programs with hundreds of students across the city

Looking to the year ahead, we are excited to build on the momentum we gained in 2021 as we work towards a just and sustainable future through food here in New Britain.

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