Lambs Farm, Subaru team up to create sustainable garden
Volunteers from Subaru of America Inc., the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners and Lambs Farm spent the day recently building garden beds, transporting soil, planting and topping the gardens with straw to create Lambs Farm's first sustainable garden.
The new plot is located outside of the organization's Magnolia Cafe & Bakery, providing a "farm-to-table" experience with the restaurant, as well as providing healthy produce to the participants.
In addition to building the sustainable garden, team members from Subaru collaborated with the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners to install the garden and provide Lambs Farm participants the training needed for its proper maintenance.
This training will also provide participants with a new set of skills that they can use in the growing garden or take with them to jobs in the surrounding community.
The sustainable garden is a place to grow food, flowers, herbs or to simply enjoy the peacefulness of the surrounding environment. Lambs Farm participants who work at the Magnolia Cafe & Bakery will be trained to tend to the new garden, and vegetables in the garden will be used in the menu items prepared at the Magnolia Cafe & Bakery.
The garden is expected to yield about 300 pounds of produce this year.
Subaru funded the development of the garden as part of the Subaru Loves to Care initiative.
"Proper nutrition and exercise are important to the health of the Lambs Farm participants, so when we found out that they didn't have a sustainable garden on-site, we knew that we could make a meaningful impact to this great cause," said Jason Leopold of Subaru of America Inc.
"The Subaru Loves to Care initiative is all about supporting organizations that are committed to helping our local communities and making the world a better place. It is our vision to show love and respect to all people, and working with Lambs Farm allows us to do that in a meaningful way."
Lambs Farm is a premier nonprofit organization whose mission is helping people with developmental disabilities lead productive, happy lives.
Lambs Farm is at 14245 W. Rockland Road, Libertyville. Visit www.lambsfarm.org. For information about Subaru Loves to Care, visit www.subaru.com/loves-to-care.