Public input session for incubator gardens in Charles City, Iowa

To the Press

Residents, producers, businesses and regional organizations are encouraged to attend a public input session in Charles City regarding an edible corridor and site design for gardens and alternative farming opportunities on Jan. 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5-7:30 p.m. at the Charles City Public Library. 

Charles City is partnering with the North Iowa Food Coalition (NIFC) project team for educational gardens in northern Iowa.  This project team is led by John Sjolinder, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, and Angela Determan, Blue Zones Project-Mason City, with partnerships with Wendy Johnson, Charles City farmer, City Administrator Steve Diers and City Clerk Trudy O’Donnell. 

The public input session unveil opportunities for catalyst garden spaces or farms within Charles City. The public is encouraged to participate by providing input on potential sites for a garden as well as provide ideas on an “edible corridor.”

This project opportunity began as one of five priority projects developed within the North Iowa Food Coalition, a network of regional partners in Northern Iowa hosted by Healthy Harvest of North Iowa.  Healthy Harvest and the North Iowa Food Coalition are participating in the Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit, a competitive program offered by the University as a joint partnership between the Community Economic Development and Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension.

Within the next year, this project will be implemented in Charles City, and several other projects will be occurring within the nine-county NIFC region.

The purpose of the project is to offer space for gardening or incubator space for new production by establishing sustainable landscapes within Charles City. The long-term goal is that Charles City will be the host of the first of several gardens or farms started through this effort. 

Various designs for edible landscapes, gardens, and incubator farms, will be highlighted at the input session to provide opportunities for brainstorming on the needs for Charles City residents. 

This session is offered as an open house to encourage individuals to come and go as they please. Input gleaned will be utilized to develop a site design for Charles City in the spring of 2017. 

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