Grow A Little Extra Project is in its Third Year in HSC

Thermopolis, WYO — 2023 is the third year of Grow a Little Extra (GALE) for our county. Red Dirt Master Gardeners will again coordinate Grow A Little Extra efforts in the area, including accepting locally grown produce donations, weighing them, and distributing them to individuals and local anti-hunger partners. We continue to have free vegetable seeds available at the Library and at Saturdays Farmers Market. In Thermopolis, you can contact Kelly Strampe at (307) 870-2726 and Cindy Toth (307) 631-7866; if you want to donate produce or would like to receive produce. The past two years, the Lazy Fox Bakery was our partner as a spot to drop off and pick up produce. Unfortunately they closed this year but we are working with Broadway Bakery as our new partner. Watch for ads in the newspaper and on the Red Dirt Master Gardener Facebook page, as to when produce can be dropped off and picked up from their storefront by individuals. In Thermopolis, later this summer when we start getting inundated with vegetables, some of the places we will distribute produce to include the Senior Center, the Senior Apartments, local church food pantries, Absaroka Head Start-Thermopolis and People to People. We have already distributed lettuce, greens, peas, even a few zucchini to a few locations. You can also contact Angela Michel, Cent$ible Nutrition Educator at (307)347-3431 for Grow A Little Extra information and recipes.

The Grow a Little Extra project encourages home gardeners to “grow a little extra”, existing community gardens to dedicate one or two sections to growing food specifically for donation, and churches or community organizations who want to start a new garden to grow food for the community. Grow a Little Extra is a collaborative effort between First Lady Jennie Gordon’s Wyoming Hunger Initiative, the University of Wyoming Extension and the Cent$ible Nutrition Program. Our town’s Community Garden (run by Red Dirt Master Gardeners) has 6 beds designated for Grow A Little Extra. Jill Van Heule, Director of Absaroka Head Start – Thermopolis was very excited when they received a $1,000 GALE grant this year to build a few more garden beds at their site for growing produce and to help educate children and parents about ways to cook with fresh produce.

In 2022, the Wyoming Grow a Little Extra partnership donated over 35,000 pounds of produce to anti-hunger organizations in the state. Fresh produce is difficult and costly for the food pantry system to procure and this project encourages people from across the state to participate in this Wyoming solution to hunger. In Thermopolis, in the 2022 growing season there was 716 pounds of produce recorded for donation. In the 2021 season there was 864 pounds recorded (a lot more heavy zucchini and other squashes that year). “We’d like to break those records in 2023 here in Thermopolis, ” says Kelly Strampe, Grow A Little Extra Coordinator for Hot Springs County.

“University of Wyoming Extension is already doing good work around the state with their Master Gardener program and Cent$ible Nutrition Program,” says First Lady Jennie Gordon. “This Wyoming Hunger Initiative effort continues to leverage the work already being done to increase access to local produce for a wide range of people in Wyoming.” Strengthening local food systems reduces food insecurity and increases positive health outcomes, which supports Wyoming Hunger Initiative’s goal of ensuring nourished kids, healthy families, and thriving communities across the state.

“The Cent$ible Nutrition Program and UW Extension values the partnership with the First Lady’s Wyoming Hunger Initiative to increase access to locally grown fresh produce to people in need. Together, we have been able to increase produce donations and nutrition education to food pantry and anti-hunger agency patrons,” says Cent$ible Nutrition State Director Mindy Meuli.