With spring right around the corner, it’s a time of transitions for the Food Love Farm. Maggie McProud, the current Farm Director will be leaving her post at Food Love for tropical times in Maui, leaving behind quite a legacy in her wake.
In the year and a half Maggie has been in charge of Food Love, she has made many infrastructure improvements including a new kitchen, picnic table and hand washing area, a spiffy new greenhouse, the addition of NID irrigation water (invisible to most but a serious project!), a native hedgerow for pollinators, as well as countless perennial plants including flowers and a berry patch which will be ready for Upicks this year. Not to mention the hundreds of school children and community members her work has impacted! When asked about her experience with Food Love, Maggie said, “The students’ enthusiasm, appreciation and awareness of fresh, nutritious food is, in the true sense of the word, extraordinary. They have a solid understanding of the natural systems that create fresh produce, and have seen and participated in the process and know why it’s beneficial for their growing bodies. Personally, this was not something I started to understand until I was an adult! It’s been such a gift to share the Food Love Farm and fresh, tasty produce with kids who instinctively appreciate the beauty of good food, grown together and shared together.”
Maggie has put so much love and sweat into the Food Love Farm, and we at Sierra Harvest are beyond grateful to her for bringing the farm to the next level. With all of her work and knowledge, the farm is better than ever! Please join us all in wishing Maggie a wonderful time on her next adventure, and plenty of aloha spirit!
Please join us in welcoming the new Food Love Farm Director Emily Koller! Emily comes to Sierra
Harvest from local favorite Riverhill farm and the GRUB farm in Chico. She also has experience teaching children garden and nutrition education through FoodCorps and the Center for Healthy Communities. When asked about what she’s looking forward to about this position, Emily said, “I’m so excited to share the experience of growing food with this community! I see farming as an opportunity to deeply connect with the Earth, our community, each other, and ourselves and I can’t wait to see that magic happening at the Food Love Farm!” We are excited to support Emily as she weaves her magic into the Food Love Farm and see the 2018 season unfold.
If you would like to volunteer at the Food Love Farm, contact Emily directly at emily@sierraharvest.org. We invite you to peruse the Food Love Farm wish list to help provide needed items for the upcoming season of fresh food education.