Refugee Community Garden total= $1276

Rationale: Refugees begin withthree months of food stamps, and subsist on thatplusminimum wage jobs, as they are learning English and settling in. Some come from agricultural societies and are used to growing some portion of their own food. Growing food is also extremely economical, and surplus can be bartered/sold. The largestexpensein a garden is the start-up costs: soil testing,soil amendments, materials to make raised beds, add irrigation, buy initial seeds. Once a garden has beenestablished, recurrent costs can be minimized using
compost, seed-saving, etc. The Garden at Jackson Square has already taken on five families from Burma, one

that created its bedsin the spring and fourmore who are building their garden now. Supporting these families will allowfor the families to growsomeof their own food, and also learn how to grow in Florida usingthe resources of a community garden that has committed to mentoring them. While this garden location is not a permanent location, by documenting the success of a refugee garden, we hope to convince local businessesto allow communitygardens on their property on an ongoing basis. The advantage of this location is that it is walkingdistance from several apartment complexes that house a large refugeepopulation.
a.
b.

Soil testing: free through extension office

Soil amendments

i.
ii.

Composted manure transport only, $105=3 X $35 each trip (free from the zoo)
Fertilizer

1. bone meal: $8 for 4.5 lb (organic bone meal, each bag covers 40 square feet) X 6
= $48

2. blood meal: $8 for 3.3 lb (organic blood meal) X 6= $48

iii. Mulch $5 bale X20 = 100

c. Gardening tools $300

i. Wheelbarrow $60 X 2 = $120

ii.
iii. iv.

Spades $25X4= $100

Trowels: $10 X4=$40 Misc: $40

d. Seeds/plants $100

e. Consulting research to find appropriate sources for seeds/plants that they are usedto growing and will
grow in Florida $200

f. Floridagardening mentor: free, we have a master gardener workingwith us g. Translationservices $25/hour X $10 hours (includingwriting up instructions) = $250 h. Friends of Northeast Florida Community Gardens (FNFCG) conducts the Community Food Security Coalition: Community Food Project Evaluation Toolkit Survey for Adults. The documentwould needto be translated for the families to their native language and the results translated for the free response answers backto English. The survey results report will provide a measurable outcome to the impact that
community gardening has on these families.

5 hours for FNFCG at $25 per hour (10 families surveyed)

1 hour for document translation

1 hour for response translation Survey Translation $25/hour X 2 hours = $50 Survey distribution, collection & reporting $25/hour X 5 hours = $125

h. In return, each family who participates will bring in and mentor another family for one year.