Urban Harvest Inc

Urban Harvest's Education Program transforms gardens into outdoor classrooms through weekly hands-on education, the Edible Academy, Permaculture, and the Community Gardens Program. Through Youth Education, we are changing how kids think about their education, environment, and food through garden experiential lessons. The Edible Academy, a multi-day workshop, trains educators and community members on integrating gardening into their curriculum and programming. In addition, Urban Harvest offers more than 60 classes annually on organic gardening and sustainable living, including our Permaculture Design Certification, which trains individuals in underserved communities to find sustainable solutions for themselves and the land utilizing our network of affiliate gardens. See Schedule OThrough the Community Gardens Program, we strive to connect people to their nearest garden from our 165+ network of affiliate gardens and supply our affiliates with soil, tools, plant starts, and more to ensure their long-term sustainability.

Urban Harvest's Farmers Market operates every Saturday providing Houstonians with year-round access to local, healthy food and the opportunity to meet and know their farmers. The market provides a venue for approximately 80 local farmers, ranchers, and food artisans to grow their business with a year-round, low-cost platform. In fact, the Farmers Market generates more than $2 million in revenue for the local economy and sustains over 350 jobs. In addition, the Farmers Market is a valuable community space for over 45,000 residents to gather and celebrate our local food heritage while getting to know their neighbors and local farmers.

Urban Harvest's Permaculture Certification Program hosts specialized classes and series to help participants earn their 100-hour Permaculture Design Certification (PDC). Permaculture is "permanent culture," a way of being sustainable and regenerative by designing solutions with food, energy, nature, and community in mind. PDC graduates are instrumental in conducting sustainability projects across Greater Houston and Urban Harvest's Community Gardens, Youth Education, and Farmers Market programs. In the past two decades of teaching this certification, Urban Harvest continues to make this an affordable and equitable program; with available scholarships, work-study opportunities, flexible completion, and volunteering, we strive to make PDC accessible for all.

Urban Harvest was founded on the idea that community gardens are critical in fighting hunger, creating a sense of community, and improving nutritional choices that increase health and wellness. Urban Harvest supports more than 150 affiliate gardens by distributing seasonal garden materials (plant starts, fertilizer, and fruit trees for free), maintaining a year-round seed bank for all gardens, offering free educational opportunities, and providing volunteer referrals, workdays, and other community-based support.