Transition Longfellow
Transition Longfellow is primarily composed of neighbors in South Minneapolis's Greater Longfellow neighborhoods with participants from throughout the metro area. We are one of more than 165 "official" Transition Town initiatives in the US, joining more than 350 Transition Towns worldwide in a global movement to build more resilient individuals and families and more sustainable communities.
Transition Longfellow creates opportunities for people to learn about and to take action on the key areas of transition: reduced dependence on fossil fuels, increasing energy efficiency and conservation, relocalizing our economy, building a more resilient and healthy food supply, reducing unnecessary consumption and reducing waste.
Chard Your Yard Program
Chard Your Yard is the signature food-resilience project of Transition Longfellow, and was launched in 2013. Since that time that group has installed almost 300 3'x 5' raised beds using a "Garden Mob" of community volunteers to efficiently install the beds within days.
Our goal is to use economies of scale to create affordable garden beds for our neighbors, providing them with a quality finished product at cost. By doing so we create community, improve our neighbors health, and create more sustainable communities.
Program Scope
Garden Beds
In 2024, Transition Longfellow intends to install 45 - 3’ x 5’ x12" raised bed gardens and 8 double-high beds on residential properties (homeowner or rental property) in the neighborhoods primarily of 55406 but will include residents in Cooper, Corcoran, Standish, Ericcson, Seward, Longfellow, Howe, and Hiawatha neighborhoods.
Garden Soil
We will also be selling buckets of dirt for $2 each. Some of the funds raised through selling dirt will be used to help subsidize beds for people who are low income and/or people who have physical disabilities. Soil must be picked up, it is not delivered. Last year we sold over 400 buckets of soil!
Program Cost and Funding
For Chard Your Yard, this project is self-funding - we strive to simply break even, and neither gain nor lose money from this project. Our goal is to work with neighbors to build the food-resilience of the neighborhood.
Since the start of the project, we have partnered with the Environment and Gorge Committee of the Longfellow Community Council to provide financial assistance for at-risk neighborhood residents - low income and persons with physical disabilities. Through their generous support and through the support of Transition Longfellow, we continue to provide sizable discounts to these groups.
We are thrilled to be providing the subsidies for the 2024 program.
Last updated - 2024-03-20