Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens

In the market for a new pair of shoes? Or are you just looking for a delicous lunch that helps a great cause?

On Saturday, August 31, we are hosting a brat lunch at The Shoe Box to support MAFPG! Visit The Shoe Box in Black Earth, WI for a delicious brat lunch from 9 am to 2 pm (or until brats are sold out). Proceeds to benefit Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens!

See you then!

🥕 Thank you, Associated Physicians!

We couldn't be happier to have been out in the sun this morning at ! The weather was perfect and we can't imagine a better way to get outside this weekend.

How did you spend your weekend? We sure hope everyone got some beautiful fresh air!

More to come on our expedition, but for now, enjoy the post-work happy faces!

At MAFPG, we believe that food can be medicine. Access to healthy food is important for the prevention and treatment of chronic health issues. We plant. We grow. We feed.

Thank you, Associated Physicians

Did we mention just how impactful Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens is in ??

Check out this emergency food system graphic provided by MAFPG. We are so proud to a part of the puzzle that puts healthy food in the hands of those who need it most!

Our Farm Manager, Matt Lechmaier and Associated Physicians Dr. Zoe Rammelkamp were featured on Television Wisconsin's "Live It Up" show! Associated Physicians supports us in both volunteer hours in the garden and in financial support. In fact, they are one of our sponsors for this year's Harvest Celebration Fundraiser. We are so appreciative of their support! Check out their interview in the video below!

Fundraiser Event tickets can be purchased at https://bit.ly/3XJKGMm

Live It Up | Associated Physicians & Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens | 072324

We are “cooking up” 🍕🍕the final details for this year’s Harvest Celebration Fundraiser happening Saturday, September 21! We met with members of the Exact Sciences Culinary team who will be donating the supplies, and their talents, to cook fresh, wood-fired pizzas on-site at the event! Exact Sciences - you are amazing. Thank you for your incredible support in so many ways!

Still need your tickets? Don't miss out! Visit https://bit.ly/3XJKGMm for full event details.

It’s difficult to know where to begin when we think about all the ways Tom transformed our organization. The breadth and depth of knowledge that he brought was an inspriration.

We will miss you, Tom. A link to his full obituary is below:

https://www.ryanfuneralservice.com/obituaries/thomas-tom-parslow/

Tickets are NOW on SALE! Join us for our 3rd Annual Harvest Celebration Fundraiser happening Saturday, September 21. More details and link to tickets: https://bit.ly/3XJKGMm

We hope to see you there!

Any guesses on when this Allis-Chalmer Model G Tractor Tiller was in production? (Answer in the comments)

Two of our Board Members were instrumental in restoring this Allis-Chalmer to its original glory! You can now find this beauty back to work at Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens.

The Schulte Family played a critical role in the mission of our organization! Thank you for sharing this with us, Catholic Multicultural Center.

This rainy morning calls for some recent growing season highlights!

The barn renovation process at Forward Garden is in full swing! New siding is nearly complete. New windows and steel beams (to provide further structure support) are happening soon.

Why is the barn renovation so important to us? Not only are we passionate about preserving its history, the barn basement is our main storage area. The upper level holds produce during cleaning and distribution that doesn’t go in the cooler and is used for organization events, such as our Harvest Celebration Fundraiser in the fall.

Check out our new (to us) ride! Thank you, AlphaGraphics Middleton for the amazing decal installation on our cargo van. With the growing season underway, we are so excited to start providing local food pantries with first-choice, fresh, nutritious and culturally relevant produce.

While efforts for the 2024 growing season have been underway for a number of months, the gardens are now officially open!

This is such an exciting time of year as we have the opportunity to turn our hard work cultivating the land in the spring into healthy produce. Learn more about our open volunteer hours at the link below:

https://foodpantrygardens.org/calendar.html

For the second year in a row, a group of volunteers from Investors Associated, LLP joined us at Forward Garden. This past Wednesday, they helped w**d and transplant strawberries, fix the mobile chicken coop, and prep barn boards for painting. We are so grateful for their incredible partnership to help us achieve our mission to create community-level nutrition security.

Over 80 students from Madison West High School's AP Environmental Science class spent the day on Friday learning and volunteering at Forward Garden. They were a tremendous help to the beginning of our growing season. Students helped install some irrigation, sort and place down w**d fabric, and plant onions, potatoes and beets. As we continue to restore the barn, students also helped paint the new barn siding slats. We were in awe of the incredible work the students provided. Thank you!

Are you passionate about ending hunger and creating nutrition security? ​Join our team for a 1-year, full time position as a Capacity Building VISTA! See the link below for more details:
https://foodpantrygardens.org/uploads/3/4/8/7/34875745/americorps_vad_mafpg_position_description_5.1.24.pdf

We had a wonderful Saturday morning attending the MAMGA - Madison Area Master Gardeners Association meeting. This beatiful weather sparked a lot of conversation about our excitement for this year's growing season!

May is on the way, and we still need volunteers!

We need volunteers for Brat Fest!

Brat Fest will be held again this year over Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26th. Volunteers can sign-up to work at the event to raise money for MAFPG!

Each hour volunteered provides a donation to our organization. Even if you are out of town for the weekend, there are time slots to work beforehand in preparation for the event. All volunteers will receive a free T-shirt to wear during your shift, and upon shift completion, you'll receive a coupon to get a free brat and ice cream!

Click the link below to sign up for a shift:
https://app.initlive.com/web-admin/app/ #/join-party?k=2lh0kiwu5hyftv

How to Sign up for Volunteering at Brat Fest 2023:
Click on Brat Fest INITLIVE to Sign Up
Enter your Email Address and password or create a Password (reset if you can't remember)
Fill in form contact questions: name, number and t-shirt size, and Charity group you're working for - this is where you will specify MAFPG
Verify 14 years of age. Must be 18 years of age to grill
Select Shift(s) you would like to work
Go back to home to View your upcoming events

We greatly appreciate your ongoing support as the 2024 growing season quickly approaches!

Madison Area Food Pantry Garden volunteers came together in mid-March at Knight Hollow Nursery to begin seeding for our 2024 growing season!

After all of the seeds are planted, a team of volunteers will water them twice a day until the starter flats are distributed to our various garden locations.

This work is imperative to our organization's success, and we are so grateful to our volunteers and the Knight Hollow Nursery.

Our gardens are on track to open in early May. Stay tuned for official dates and times for when we will be welcoming community volunteers to begin working in our gardens!

Still debating what to eat for dinner tonight? Doesn't a brat sound good?
Speaking of brats... Brat Fest will be held again this year over Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26th. Volunteers can sign-up to work at the event to raise money for MAFPG!

Each hour volunteered provides a donation to our organization. Even if you are out of town for the weekend, there are time slots to work beforehand in preparation for the event. All volunteers will receive a free T-shirt to wear during your shift, and upon completion you'll receive a free Brat and Ice Cream Coupon.

Click here to sign up for Job Shifts:
https://app.initlive.com/web-admin/app/ #/join-party?k=2lh0kiwu5hyftv

How to Sign up for Volunteering at Brat Fest 2023:
Click on Brat Fest INITLIVE to Sign Up
Enter your Email Address and password or create a Password (reset if you can't remember)
Fill in form contact questions: name, number and t-shirt size, and Charity group you're working for - this is where you will specify MAFPG
Verify 14 years of age. Must be 18 years of age to grill
Select Shift(s) you would like to work
Go back to home to View your upcoming events

We greatly appreciate your ongoing support as the 2024 growing season quickly approaches!

Bloomerang Volunteer Volunteer experiences that inspire.

Snow is in the forecast for Friday! While we Wisconsinites are not strangers to late spring frost and snow, here is your reminder to cover your plants or take them inside if you're able!

We need volunteers for Brat Fest!

Brat Fest will be held again this year over Memorial Day weekend, May 24-26th. Volunteers can sign-up to work at the event to raise money for MAFPG!

Each hour volunteered provides a donation to our organization. Even if you are out of town for the weekend, there are time slots to work beforehand in preparation for the event. All volunteers will receive a free T-shirt to wear during your shift, and upon shift completion, you'll receive a coupon to get a free brat and ice cream!

Click the link below to sign up for a shift:
https://app.initlive.com/web-admin/app/ #/join-party?k=2lh0kiwu5hyftv

How to Sign up for Volunteering at Brat Fest 2023:
Click on Brat Fest INITLIVE to Sign Up
Enter your Email Address and password or create a Password (reset if you can't remember)
Fill in form contact questions: name, number and t-shirt size, and Charity group you're working for - this is where you will specify MAFPG
Verify 14 years of age. Must be 18 years of age to grill
Select Shift(s) you would like to work
Go back to home to View your upcoming events

We greatly appreciate your ongoing support as the 2024 growing season quickly approaches!

On Friday, March 8th, Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens representatives presented Thomas Parslow, recently retired MAFPG President, with a plaque in his honor.

Tom retired from his Presidency after 15 years in that role. However, Tom's time with MAFPG has been far longer, and his impact has been immeasurable.

As the plaque states: "Tom has made a profound impact on our organization with his depth of knowledge, his passion for teaching, and his perseverance in forming our non-profit. We truly would not be where we are today without his incredible leadership."

Tom Parslow's impact on the organization cannot be overstated. He has created a legacy that we hope to continue to honor and grow in the years to come.

Thank you, Tom, for all that you have done for Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens!

Before you know it, the gardens are going to look like this!

With all of this warm weather, we were able to till out at Forward Garden last week!
How do you know when you should start tilling? The pollinators can be an excellent indication of when it's time to till. Pollinators hide in hollow stems, piles of wood, and leaf litter. When you notice that the pollinators are beginning to emerge, it's probably time to start tilling!

On Wednesday, Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens helped University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health students to seed vegetable transplants to fill their Eagle Heights Community Garden plot. All of the produce being grown at the Eagle Heights Community Garden plot will be donated either to the campus-run pantry, HSLC-based "Pop-Up Pantries" for food insecure students, and any remaining seedlings/produce will be donated to Madison Area Food Pantry Gardens for distribution to local food pantries.