| About Veggies at Work | How It Works | Contact Us |
| Tips (what we've learned) | Caring for Your Garden | Helpful Resources |
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Veggies at Work began in the spring of 2006 as the brainchild of Marion Owen, a garden writer and organic gardener of Kodiak, Alaska. Many times she heard folks say things like, “I don’t have time to garden,” or, “When I get home from work, I’m too tired to garden.” At the same time, the local food banks were feeling the pinch. Putting two and two together, Marion thought, “Why not bring the gardens to work?” She approached several business owners with the idea, and in the first season (2006) a half-dozen businesses signed up, including:
What happened next After taking into consideration sun and weather exposure, pedestrian and vehicle traffic flow, parking, and landscaping goals, volunteers built raised beds at the businesses from locally milled, 2x12-inch untreated lumber and filled them with soil and compost. Many supplies, including seeds and seedlings, were donated. Each business paid $60 per raised bed to cover the cost of materials. Once planted, the gardens require relatively little maintenance (mostly watering, weeding, tending plants and pest control), which can easily be accomplished in a few minutes. Coffee breaks are a good time to play in the garden. In fact, coffee grounds can be added to the soil as a mulch and to control slugs snails. Harvesting and delivering
If it was a warm day, she harvested in the morning so the vegetables didn’t wilt and coordinated deliveries based on when food was given out at the food banks or needed by other organizations). Once back at her home office, Marion entered the amounts on a spreadsheet, tallied them up and faxed a “Congratulations, You’ve Been Harvested! notice to each business, letting them know how many servings they provided that week. How it Works 1) Provide local solutions to local hunger issues Every night, an estimated 30 to 40 million Americans go to bed hungry. What’s more, local food banks are seeing increased demand for their charity services, yet fewer donations are coming in. Veggies at Work provides low-cost, long-term storage produce for local food banks and institutions.
According to the American Diabetes Association, one in three children born in the U.S. in the year 2000 will end up being a diabetic. The increase of diabetes is directly linked to several controllable factors, including diet. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that unhealthy diet, together with physical inactivity and tobacco use, are among the key preventable risk factors for non-communicable diseases. In other words, most health issues are preventable and locally-grown, highly nutritious vegetables provide an immediate solution. 3) Improve cost of living The increased cost of living is due, in part, to the high cost of food. Rising oil prices and transportation costs account for an estimated 25 to 50 percent of the cost of fresh produce. By obtaining as much produce as possible from local sources, the less dependent we are on oil. Consider this: One kale plant (from one seed!) can provide about 25 servings of vegetables. 4) Reduce stress in the workplace
5. Provide value-added landscaping for businesses By incorporating the unique textures, colors and shapes of many vegetables and flowers into garden spaces, businesses benefit from a beautiful landscape that is edible, educational, beautiful; one that feeds body, mind and spirit. 6) Reduce dependence on imported food and increase food safety The average tomato or head of lettuce travels about 1,500 miles from farm to table. And with food coming in from all corners of the Earth, it's becoming increasingly important for individuals and communities to source their food from as close to the source as possible. Teamwork: For Veggies at Work to be successful it needs to be a team effort. Thus, each office should have a garden “team” to care for the vegetables. Tip: Assign one person the task of “Fearless Weeder” to oversee the office team. Follow your Fearless Weeder: Your Fearless Weeder will assign tasks to team members. It helps to email tasks or post them on a calendar Tasks are described below. Local help: You’re not alone. A gardener(s) from the community will be assigned to each Veggies at Work garden to assist during the growing and harvesting season. Helpful tools and other stuff
Once the garden is planted, it is easy to maintain. Tasks can be completed during coffee breaks!
Weeding: Prevention is the key. Weed often. Hint: It’s easier to pull weeds from damp soil. Fertilizing: Use organic fertilizers only. Remember, feed the soil to feed the plants. Do not use chemical fertilizers. We don’t want to poison the vegetables, or the people eating them! Pests: Again, prevention is the key, so check plants and soil often. Use non-toxic methods to remove pests. Keep garden clean of garden and other debris. Other tasks: Thin carrots and seedlings, install garden art, take photographs. Seasonal timetable (NOTE: This will vary depending on where you live, but this is what we experienced in Kodiak, Alaska. Adjust this timetable to fit your regional growing conditions) May to early July: Put the garden in, plant seedlings, sow seeds. Probably the most work (watering, thinning, fertilizing, etc.) takes place during this time period. Early July to early August: Mostly watering and weeding; begin harvesting and deliveries. August to September: Harvest and delivery to food banks (provide, recipes, notes, etc.) September to October: Harvest late veggies; Clean up raised beds; mulch for next year.
Veggies at Work is more than caring for a garden. It’s also about caring for you and your neighbors. As Sir Wilfred Grenfell, a missionary who worked with deep-sea fishermen in Labrador in the early 1900s said, “The service we render others is the rent we pay for our room on earth.” Veggies at Work is easy for all types of businesses and associations to implement: Large corporations, churches, bookstores, schools, post offices, police stations, and coffee shops--you name it. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Here are some of the things we learned: Publicity tips
“Six Steps to Free Publicity,” by Marcia Yudkin “Public Relations Kit for Dummies,” by Eric Yaverbaum Information about Kodiak Island at www.kodiak.org Marion Owen's organic gardening articles The One-Straw Revolution, by Masanobu Fukuoka Gandhi the Man: The Story of His Transformation, by Eknath Easwaran Four-Season Harvest, by Eliot Coleman Seaweed and Plant Growth, by T.L. Senn, Ph.D. The Mother Earth News: The Original Guide to Living Wisely Green Nature, Human Nature: The Meaning of Plants in Our Lives, by Charles A. Lewis The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms, by Amy Stewart If you would like more information about Veggies at Work, life on Kodiak Island, organic gardening methods, please contact Marion Owen at: 1223 W. Kouskov Phone: 907-486-5079 Thank you for visiting, and happy gardening!
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Each week, like checking a trapline, Marion visited each business. She picked the ripe vegetables, weighed them on an old postal scale, and made notations of quantity and type of vegetable. Then she packed them in plastic bags and arranged them in used laundry baskets (provided by the Salvation Army). 
2) Improve health and nutrition
Studies show that plants are beneficial to employee health and overall productivity: The simple act of viewing and being around healthy plants provides a calming effect, improving mental, spiritual and physical well-being. And since 75 percent of doctors’ visits are attributed to stress-related disorders, being around plants reduces health care costs.
Watering: Keep seedlings and areas directly sown with seeds (i.e. carrots) evenly moist. Don’t let them dry out. This may require daily watering during dry weather. Hint: Water on Fridays to help plants get through the weekend. Set up a drip irrigation system if necessary.
