Dig It! Creating Community Gardens

Dig It! Creating Community Gardens is an ongoing annual project which creates opportunity and community enrichment across MiHIA’s 14-counties. Community gardens allow families and individuals without land of their own, the opportunity to produce food.

COMMUNITY ENRICHMENT
Community gardens are created to provide opportunities for physical activity, social interaction, therapy and access to fresh vegetables for residents in the MiHIA region. This project supports MiHIA’s population health improvement strategy, which has identified community gardens as one of the critical areas needed to improve our regional health status.

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
A community garden creates volunteer opportunities for individuals to serve and support health priorities for their city. Volunteers will enhance the environment by creating green spaces that add beauty and produce locally grown food, aiding in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by reducing food transportation from farm to fork.

Each garden site has committed to sustaining their garden through continued programming with the help of appropriately dedicated resources. This collaboration helps to foster surrounding communities and:

• Serve as a place for gardeners to share knowledge, skills, communication, responsibility.
• Provide the opportunity to learn the importance of eating healthier more nutrient-rich diets.
• Offer a focal point for community stewardship and environmental responsibility.
• Lead to community-based efforts to deal with other social concerns like crime.
  

MiHIA has a goal of having a Dig It! project in a new county each year.

2017 in Sanilac County
Funder: Marlette Regional Hospital

Marlette Regional Hospital
This project was made possible with multiple local donors or sponsors in Sanilac County. There was a sponsor for all the seeds and another for all the starter plants. A local company that specializes in identifying soil needs provided soil testing to maximize plant growth and served as a volunteer hotline when questions arose about how to plant and continued plant care. 

2016 in Bay County
Funder: Bay Area Community Foundation

Bush Elementary
Students at Essexville-Hampton Public Schools’ Bush Elementary have hands-on horticultural experiences. Two raised beds were built for planting and also built a 'pea pod and bean house' out of bamboo.

2015 in Midland County
Funder: Dow Chemical Company

Community Mental Health for Central Michigan – Midland County
The Midland branch of the Community Mental Health for Central Michigan’s garden serves as a strategic destination for staff and clients of all ages to interact outside of the office environment.

The Midland Community Center
The Midland Community Center’s garden were enhanced by building raised beds, allowing children, the elderly, and those with limited mobility, an opportunity to actively participate in the garden’s preparation, care and harvest.

Windover High School
The garden located at Windover High School, of the Midland Public School system, has been used to harvest produce as part of their culinary program to build employable skill sets for their students.

To learn more contact MiHIA Quadruple Aim Leader, Katie Trotter, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please include attribution to Fiskars.com with this graphic.