Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Fruits: berries (other)
Practices
- Crop Production: food product quality/safety
- Education and Training: demonstration, on-farm/ranch research, youth education
- Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, budgets/cost and returns, marketing management
- Pest Management: chemical control
- Soil Management: soil analysis, soil quality/health
- Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, community services, employment opportunities
Proposal abstract:
Lighthouse Youth Center at Paint Creek is a residential treatment center for juvenile offenders (ages 10 to 17) from Ohio's urban areas. The on-site Paint Creek School includes a horticulture program that educates the students on the benefits of growing, eating and selling healthy fruits and vegetables. The curriculum is organized to teach the students to use classroom learning and hands-on experience to develop a positive set of skills to take home and to share their knowledge with their community as well as to make a modest profit. The horticulture program began in 2006 when students built their greenhouse, and each year a new phase or learning opportunity is introduced. The students currently raise a variety of edible and decorative plants along with tilapia. Much of the produce and fish is used in the Center's kitchen or sold at local farmers markets. An NCR-SARE grant will support the Center's expansion crop by engaging the students in the planning, planting, growing, harvesting, and marketing of raspberries while they live at Paint Creek.