Growing Season in Motion: Harvests, Planting Days & Community in Action

As 2026 unfolds, SEED Chattanooga has been hard at work turning vision into action, one garden bed, one harvest, and one shared experience at a time.

Following the exciting milestones we celebrated at the start of the year, the past few months have brought our mission to life in the most meaningful way: through people showing up, getting their hands in the soil, and growing together.

From Planting to Harvest: A Full-Circle Season

This season, our gardens at Hardy Elementary School and the Jessie Igou Eastdale Community Center have been alive with activity.

We’ve hosted multiple Harvest & Planting Days, where students, volunteers, families, and community partners came together to:

• Harvest cool-weather crops

• Prepare garden beds for spring planting

• Learn hands-on gardening skills

• Build deeper community connections

At Hardy Elementary, students proudly harvested vegetables they helped grow, experiencing the full journey from seed to table.

Learning by Doing

Each event continues to reinforce what makes SEED Chattanooga special: education through experience.

Participants learned:

• Seasonal growing cycles

• Soil health fundamentals

• Teamwork and shared responsibility

Our gardens remain living classrooms, where knowledge grows alongside fresh food.

From Garden to Table: The SEED Harvest Lunch

A major highlight this season was our SEED Harvest Lunch at Jessie Igou Community Center.

With Chef Kenyatta Ashford, we showcased how garden-grown ingredients transform into nourishing meals.

Featured dish:
Cabbage Leaf Stuffed with Organic Chicken & Salsa Verde

This experience connected:

• Fresh food to community tables

• Culinary skills to garden education

• Neighbors through shared meals

Celebrating Community Impact

Our Earth Day celebration brought together an incredible group of volunteers who helped plant, maintain, and uplift our spaces.

The energy reflected what SEED is all about:
community, sustainability, and collective action.

Growing Forward

Looking ahead, we’re excited to:

• Expand planting & harvest days

• Increase youth & family programming

• Host more food-based experiences

• Grow partnerships across Chattanooga

Our vision remains clear:

A community where everyone can grow, access, and enjoy fresh, healthy food.

Thank You for Growing With Us

To our volunteers, partners, and supporters, thank you.

You make this work possible.
And together, we’re growing something powerful.