December 2023

Sweeter Creations Sugar House, Waddington.

Image courtesy of the Farm-to-Table Initiative led by Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County.

Get those Bids in by December 3rd!

The bids are coming in fast and furious on GardenShare’s Holiday Auction! Whether you’re in a bidding war for an item you have your eye on or you’re waiting for your moment to sneak in and bid higher, there is still a lot of fun to be had and many incredible items available, but only until Sunday, December 3rd at 5pm!

GardenShare’s team is deeply thankful for the organizing committee’s efforts and for the generosity of those who’ve donated items! Keep those bids coming!

GardenShare is Hiring a Program Coordinator!

The Program Coordinator will work closely with St. Lawrence County farmers markets. GardenShare currently provides shared management services for Canton, Gouverneur, and Potsdam farmers markets and supports other markets throughout the county in various capacities. The Program Coordinator will oversee the multiple incentive and token programs, including GardenShare’s Bonus Bucks, coordinate and mentor farmers market volunteers, lead educational opportunities at farmers markets, and provide market administration/logistics for the shared management markets.

For more information visit our website here!

Gratitude Through Giving Thank You

Gratitude through Giving raised $2,289.18! We are blown away from the support of our community and neighbors!

Thank you Nature's Storehouse for hosting and your continued support, our matching donors - Boyden Brook Body Works and Coakley Home and Hardware - and everyone who donated!

The funds raised will support GardenShare's Programing, which includes our Bonus Bucks program, which offers a cost-sharing arrangement to income eligible St. Lawrence County residents to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share or to make purchases at St. Lawrence County farmers markets.

We Bid Farewell to Erica Kelso

In November we said goodbye to our Farmers Market Manager, Erica Kelso as she transitioned into a new role as Managing Director at the SLC Arts Council. This new opportunity will offer her exciting new challenges and dovetails with her long-term professional goals.

Erica excelled as Farmers Market Manager for Canton, Gouverneur, and Potsdam as GardenShare entered our second year of market management. Erica will continue to work with GardenShare in a consultant capacity and we wish her luck in her new endeavor. We will miss Erica greatly but as so grateful to have benefited from her knowledge and expertise through 2023.

Hope. Connection. Support.

At GardenShare, our programs provide hope and seek to connect everyone in St. Lawrence County with affordable, healthy, locally grown food.

In 2023, GardenShare and its donors helped

Subsidize 62 St. Lawrence County families' (172 people) access for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares and purchase local food at the farmers markets through the Bonus Bucks Program.
Provide consistent and stable management services to three farmers markets for 45 vendors and a variety of nonprofit organizations.
Share education, nutritional security, and local food system information and distribute over 10K print copies of our Local Food Guide.
Support $12,856 SNAP and $37,371 credit/debit transactions, along with programs like Bonus Bucks and Double Up Food Bucks at Canton, Gouverneur, Hammond, Massena, and Potsdam farmers markets for a total impact of $69,695 on our local economy.

Your donation today helps us continue these amazing programs in 2024!

Donate to GardenShare

GardenShare SLU CBL Interns - Fall 2023

GardenShare hosts many student interns and it is always exciting to welcome new faces into the GardenShare office. Being that bridge between the student population and the larger St. Lawrence County community is wonderfully fulfilling and this past fall we hosted three interns from SLU's CBL (Community Based Learning Program); Eunjin Han, Bruno Mocumbi, and Eliza O'Neil.

Bruno Mocumbi

Hometown: Maputo, Mozambique

Why I do what I do (at GardenShare): Part of Community Based Learning component for my First Year Program course, and finding meaningful purpose in the Canton community

Hobbies: Club Soccer, Poetry, building puzzles, Building Legos and listening to music

Most recent accomplishment: Received my IB Diploma

What are you most proud of? The person I am forging every day, because I feel that fundamentally the person I envision myself to be is a very important life aspiration for me. So, it is especially important for me to do things that shape myself up to achieve that, and I feel that at the core of that is staying true to myself and sharing myself with the world.

Eunjin Han

Hometown: Seoul, South Korea

What has changed the most in your time in the North Country?: As an international student, I have adapted to the culture of the North Country, in particular, the language.

What's the hardest thing you've done or had to learn at GardenShare?: I learned the intricate technique and process of checking people out to operate the Farmer’s Market and promote community at Garden Share.

What one word would you use to describe yourself?: Patience - I see through to the end of what I want to achieve.

What are you most proud of?: Taking on the challenge of studying abroad in the USA.

The GardenShare office will be closed from December 22nd to January 1st!

Our staff wishes you and yours a happy holiday!

Connect with us | email: info@gardenshare.org | call: (315) 261-8054