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Prescott Food Forest is Flourishing

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If you cannot physically garden or you just do not have time, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support this program.

The goal was to create a gardening education center to teach people how to garden and grow their own food, a place where we could learn and share the fruits (and veggies) of our labor with those who are affected by food insecurity, a place to have fellowship and work together to build a lush Food Forest.

I am very proud to say we are making great strides in bringing our vision to reality. In fact, because we kept the greenhouse at B Organic Farm heated all winter long, we have ample vegetable growth already that we have given to those who need it most.

All this progress wouldn’t be possible without the hospitality and passion of Mark and Ginny Bonacquista, the owners of B Organic Farm. They have opened their property to us, which has allowed us to expand our capability to teach all the aspects of planting, growing, harvesting, eating, cooking and preserving the food we grow. It’s truly a blessing.

We recently completed our first eight-week course, Winter Greenhouse Gardening. It was a thrill to be able to utilize the greenhouse to plant and grow vegetables in January, February and March. The generous donations from our supporters and sponsors allowed us to offer full scholarships to 25 eager and determined gardening students.

Currently, we have a greenhouse chock full of lettuces, peas, artichokes, tomatoes, beans and more. This is the result of arduous work by several gardening leaders including Master Gardener and Garden Manager LeRoy Miller, Hoss Lambeth and Ann Smeltzer, who have been volunteering every Wednesday since the inception of the program.

We are turning our attention to a half-acre garden bed that will allow us to amplify the quantity and variety of food we grow and give away. Our vision is to be able to give food to those in need, plus be able to sell fresh food at farmers markets and our own roadside stand.

Our second semester course, Summer Garden Growing, is in progress now. The course is led by Stephane Leon, who has taken the lead in our Gardeners Of Destiny training program, teaching the essential life skill to know how to grow food.

How can you get involved? There are specific opportunities depending on your experience and time you have available. We are always looking for volunteers to help pick the food, to manage the gardens and to help support others who might not have the experience to teach gardening.

Please visit www.Prescottfoodforest.com to see the schedule for volunteer times. Typically, we have volunteers come out to the farm on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. It is fun and fulfilling to get your hands in the dirt or to pick delicious locally grown food. The camaraderie and friendships that have been created is another bonus of this effort.

If you cannot physically garden or you just do not have time, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support this program. We have been able to provide scholarships to more than 40 people of all ages because of the generosity of our supporters and sponsors.

We are grateful for any amount, but a $100 donation to our non-profit organization, Make 100 Healthy Foundation, provides a full scholarship to an aspiring gardener. In return, the recipients pledge a minimum of 10 hours of volunteer time on the farm. That is a win/win for all. If interested, please call 928-899-1341 or go to the “donate” link on www.PrescottFoodforest.com.

Like any new venture, we are adjusting, tweaking and expanding the content to give the most gardening insights possible. Our goal is to empower everyone to be able to grow their own food for health and self-sustainability.

Also, we are planning a summer boot camp for kids. More details will be forthcoming. This is family fun for everyone, an immersive opportunity to gain experience and improve your garden skills.

I am humbled how we’ve been able to build the Gardeners Of Destiny training program, which has been embraced by all ages. Onward and Upward! Let’s keep Growing Together. QCBN

By John Murphy

John Murphy is the founder of the Make 100 Healthy Foundation and a Prescott realtor. He can be reached at john.teammurphy@gmail.com.

Courtesy Photo: By keeping the B Organic Farm heated through the winter, Prescott Food Forest has been able to supply an abundance of vegetables to those who need them.

Prescott Food Forest Gala Marks a Major Victory for Gardening Education Programs

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There has never been a more important time than now to learn or expand your ability to grow food.

On Tuesday Feb. 21, at The Club at Prescott Lakes, we hosted a Victory Garden Gala to raise awareness and funds to support the Gardeners Of Destiny (GOD) gardening education training program at B Organic Farm, Chino Valley.

The evening was a total success. More than 125 people from all sectors of our community came to support our mission to empower people to grow food for health and self-sustainability.

I am grateful for the support from our sponsors, donors, friends and neighbors. I want to thank Ed Walsh and Bob Knudson from Lamb Cadillac for their generous primary sponsorship and also Grayden Guilford and Pinnacle Bank for their gold sponsorship. Your donations allowed us to accelerate our plans and efforts!

A special note of appreciation to Ken Lain and Watters Garden Center for their sponsorship and donation of a fruit tree orchard as part of our live auction. Ken was also the keynote speaker, sharing his first-hand experience seeing the shift toward edible growing and backyard gardening to fight inflation and to ensure healthy food consumption. His expertise and insights were enjoyed by all.

I was honored that Prescott City Councilman Steve Sischka attended as a sponsor with Olsen’s for Healthy Pets, as well as Dan Olsen, who offered a beautiful blessing before dinner. I am proud that my wife, Lisa, was a sponsor with Silver Sands Recovery. Special thanks to Quad Cities Business News, Toby Ebarb with Legacy Roofing, Mark Womack with Womack Construction and Brian Wirick of Sterling North Homes for their sponsorships. Vickie Johnston from H20 Health not only sponsored the event, but contributed a whole house water filtration system for our live auction. I have gratitude for the Barley Hound and the Vivili Group for donating a private culinary experience for eight at the Barley Hound, with a personalized chef’s dinner.

I want to thank many local individuals and businesses for donating items, experiences and art for our silent auction and raffle items. We truly live in a giving and supportive community. All told, we raised close to $30,000 and netted close to $20,000. This provides the needed resources to grow and expand our efforts.

The evening started with a soulful musical performance by the very talented Kenny James. The food, prepared by Chef Matt at The Club at Prescott Lakes, was delicious. They also donated a private chef’s dinner for six and a round of golf.

I was proud to present the 2nd Annual “Arline’s Angel Award” (in memory of my mom), which is presented to someone who reflects the giving nature my mom had. We awarded Stephane Leon, a local schoolteacher and the designer of our logos, website and the evening’s program guide, as this year’s recipient. Most importantly, she is the director of the Gardeners Of Destiny training program, which just completed the eight-week winter greenhouse growing course and was well received.

In that regard, we are offering a Summer Growing course starting Sat., April 29 for eight weeks. If you would like to participate, we have a few spots left. For more information, please visit prescottfoodforest.com. To apply for a full scholarship, you need to commit to a minimum of 10 hours of volunteering at B Organic Farm. Everyone seems to love this win/win deal.

Finally, I am thankful for our team of volunteers that worked tirelessly to help plan and execute the outcome we achieved. Specifically, I want to thank Ann Herrington, Susan Rubio, Rhonda Clark, Debra Ott, LeRoy Miller, Wendy Lancy, and Betty and Bob Knudson for their time, effort and heart to make this event a Big Victory to continue our education and growing food programs.

There has never been a more important time than now to learn or expand your ability to grow food. You are welcome to join us as a volunteer, student or donor for our scholarship drive. Together, we are making a difference and positively impacting our community by teaching gardening skills and building new friendships with like-minded people. Yes, this is a place for people to grow together, so let’s get growing! QCBN

By John Murphy

John Murphy is a realtor and founder of Make 100 Healthy. He can be reached at 928-899-1341.

Food Forest Growing with Volunteers, Sponsors, Programs

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With all the new gardeners and volunteers, we are planning to grow more food than ever before. It is a true blessing,” she said.

The launch of the Prescott Food Forest and Gardeners Of Destiny (GOD) Training Program has been a real success. In fact, the eight-week Winter Greenhouse Gardening Course is sold out and has hosted 30 passionate local residents that want to learn how to grow food.

Located at B Organic Farm, Chino Valley, the program’s first week was on Jan. 21, 2023. While it was literally freezing outside, the greenhouse was a balmy 50 degrees with the help of heaters, provided by my non-profit “Make 100 Healthy Foundation.” This allowed classes to start, regardless of the weather conditions.

The full attendance confirmed that many people want to learn to grow food, to be able to help those less fortunate to receive fresh food, even in the dead of winter. How wonderful! We have attracted many local gardening leaders to join our efforts because of the awareness that was generated from my past articles in QCBN.

Greg Eddolls of www.Foodscape.tips has taken the bull by the horns by volunteering to teach each Saturday. His main business, Tri City Computers, in partnership with Don Gordon’s DLG Recycling, has donated a refurbished 60” Flat Screen Interactive Touch Screen Educational TV and a greenhouse laptop that allows us to use multimedia and videos to reinforce the class subject manner. We are grateful for his generosity in time and resources.

Also, we are so blessed to have seasoned gardeners and passionate people, including Hoss Lambeth and Master Gardeners LeRoy Miller, Joe Rubio, Ann Smeltzer and others who have led the volunteer efforts during the week to allow for a beautiful and productive greenhouse setup. In fact, Hoss has focused on reinforcing the cinderblock raised beds with rebar and drip system redesign. This is hard work that is not for the faint of heart.

LeRoy Miller has brought his lifelong skills as a gardener to lead the ramp-up of the greenhouse to be ready to grow the Food Forest into a lush and productive place for fruits and vegetables to grow in.

Stephane Leon has been brilliant in bringing all the content together to inspire and lead the course for these aspiring gardeners; all of whom have received full scholarships to the eight-week course, thanks to our fundraising efforts and our main sponsors Lamb Cadillac and Pinnacle Bank.

The most exciting aspect of this program is the folks that have attended. We have families, couples and individuals that come each week ready to learn and apply their newfound skills, both at B Organic Farm and in their homes. Each student has committed to giving a minimum of 10 hours of volunteer time at B Organic Farm in return for the scholarship they received.

Ginny Buonaquista, the owner of B Organic Farm, is grateful for the help. “I have pretty much been on my own since COVID hit and it has limited our ability to provide free food to those in need. With all the new gardeners and volunteers, we are planning to grow more food than ever before. It is a true blessing,” she said.

How can you get involved? First, we are always seeking volunteers to help tend to the garden. If you have three or four hours a week to give, we have plenty of work for you to do. We have a volunteer scheduler on our site: prescottfoodforest.com or call us directly at 928-899-1341 for more Information.

What’s next? We are in the process of offering a Spring Garden Growing course, starting in April, and we are working on a summer boot camp program for children and families alike to teach them the skills to be able to grow healthy and nutrient dense fruits and vegetables.

This effort has been a testament to the tenacity and commitment of many local people to give our community the skills and insights on why growing food is so important. Thank you to all who have been a part of this incredible journey, which is just starting to scratch the surface of our full potential. I am humbled by the outpouring of support and encouragement.

Let’s keep growing! QCBN

By John Murphy

John Murphy, Make 100 Healthy/ Realtor.

Volunteering, Learning, Celebrating Opportunities at Prescott Food Forest

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Teaching kids and people of all ages how to grow food is at the core of our mission.

“A very fun, educational experience!” That’s the exact quote of a happy Trinity Christian School student who just got done volunteering in the greenhouse at B Organic Farm in Chino Valley recently. In fact, in two days, there were 40 Trinity 9th graders learning, experiencing and helping tend to the garden at our new Gardeners Of Destiny (G.O.D.) Education Center.

Teaching kids and people of all ages how to grow food is at the core of our mission. In addition, we teach the importance of eating real, nutritionally dense, locally grown food and why it’s the best way to stay healthy and keep your immune system strong.

The students from Trinity Christian School gave a total of 120 volunteer hours. We broke into smaller groups and did some incredible work. On day one, we tied up the drip system, turned over a raised bed, pulled mint and roots out, turned over the soil, added compost soil, leveled it and re-positioned the drip system. Some of the students took starter sprouts and transplanted them into bigger containers.

The next day’s group focused their efforts outside in a one-acre garden lot that needed a lot of work. They removed the drip system, rolled up the old weed mats, weeded the entire area and pruned back artichoke plants to be ready for spring.

Overall, it was exactly that: “a very fun, educational experience!” And we are excited to have the students come back after their winter break.

Our next course, “Winter Greenhouse Gardening,” starts 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 21, and runs for eight weeks. In this course, we will examine and explore the full ecosystem of planting, managing, harvesting, eating and preserving the food we grow. The class costs $199 for the full program, but we are offering a 50% tuition credit in return for six hours of volunteer time in the garden. Also, through the generosity of our donors, we have opportunities to give full scholarships as needed. The bottom line is anyone who wants to learn how to grow food will not be turned away if they can’t afford it.

To reserve your spot, go to www.prescottfoodforest.com and click on “Register now” for the Winter Greenhouse Gardening course. There will be a certificate of completion and a Gardening Guru patch that each participant will receive at the end of the program. This is a great opportunity to grow food this winter.

Besides students, we are seeing local gardeners and food experts come and share their knowledge and expertise. Greg and Dori Eddolls have their own garden project, Foodscape, which explores the best practices of growing and eating real food. They came to the farm with a bunch of tomato, pepper and other plants and gave them to us since we have a heated greenhouse. We have had quite a few other great people volunteer. If you can give three to four hours a week, please contact us to get on the schedule. Find volunteer hours at www.prescottfoodforest.com or call 928-899-1341.

Finally, I am excited for our “Victory Garden Charity Gala,” 5-9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 17, at The Club at Prescott Lakes. All net proceeds will raise money for the Food Forest at B Organic Farm and our Gardeners Of Destiny Training program.  Make 100 Healthy Inc. is an Arizona-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

This event promises to be a fun-filled, informative evening featuring the Mountain Gardener himself, Ken Lain, who will be the keynote speaker. Great live entertainment includes Kenny James, Michael Somma and Rick Jordan playing sets. We have healthy food stations, a raffle, and silent and live auctions with awesome items, experiences and packages. I am the host and emcee for the evening. Tickets are available for $75 each, with discounted tables of eight tickets for $500. Reserve your tickets today at www.prescottfoodforest.com.

I want to personally thank all our supporters, sponsors, donors and volunteers for helping launch this important program. As our slogan says, “Let’s Get Growing.” I hope to see you either at the gala, on the farm or both. God bless. QCBN

By John Murphy

John Murphy can be contacted by email, john.teammurphy@gmail.com, or phone, 908-309-7046. Visit the Prescott Food Forest FB page for updates.