MQT Growth Builds A Community Around Food

Local non-profit teaches community to grow food right here in town

“We’re trying to give back to this beautiful community by creating something that we can use together as a community.” –Miriah Redmond

Fresh Vegies from the MQT Growth Hoop House. (photo by MQT Growth)

MQT Growth is a local non-profit that began as a group of college kids encouraging the community to play in the dirt, grow their own food and become more connected to what they are putting in their bodies. Their first project is the hoop house found on Graveraet High School’s property. This growing space promotes food being grown in an organic and non GMO way, while teaching about permaculture practices and making fertilizer from compost. MQT Growth wants to teach the community how to grow food, saying “We all have to eat, why not grow the food we need together!” They want to educate on how easy it can be to put a garden in your back yard, plant some fruit trees, and start up a group garden or help out at one that already exists.

MQT Growth volunteer plants seeds in the hoop house located at Graveraet in Marquette, MI. (photo by MQT Growth)

In 2010 a hoop house arose after the alternative high school received grant funding, but it wasn’t until the late winter of 2013 that MQT Growth teamed up with them to transform it into a community garden. With the aid of AmeriCorps and Superior Alliance for Independent Living (SAIL) raised beds were installed and the high school gladly provided the water supply and electricity.

Hoop house garden by MQT Growth located at Graveraet in Marquette, MI. (photo by MQT Growth)

The hoop house sat vacant on Graveraet’s property for three years before this group of 50 or so people volunteered their time and donated their own money to get it up and running as a functional hoop house. The first seeds were planted in the spring of 2013 and crops were harvested in abundance until November of that fall. Seeing this project unfold over the last year has raised a lot of credibility in the community for these college kids that are putting so much effort into creating something for the greater good.

MQT Growth volunteers shovel soil to be used in the hoop house located at Graveraet in Marquette, MI. (photo by MQT Growth)

The students at Graveraet High School are able to participate from the first step of the seeds being planted in the spring to harvesting the crops in the fall and even incorporating the bounty into the cafeteria lunches. The students are on summer vacation during the prime growing time in our area, but, the doors of the hoop house are always open, volunteers are always needed and both the students and the community are welcome and encouraged to be a part. The group hopes to infiltrate more Marquette District schools, K-12^th grade, allowing all of the different age groups to learn the mechanics behind providing yourself with fresh food.

MQT Growth volunteer plants seedlings in the hoop house located at Graveraet in Marquette, MI. (photo by MQT Growth)

MQT Growth is ultimately trying to build community. After meeting with a few of the core members I was able to experience their excitement first hand, it is contagious and I hope that you too will have a chance to get to know them and find a way to help their project grow. They are always looking for more volunteers to work some hours in the hoop house. Volunteering with the group will help to spread the knowledge of growing food and will definitely result in some free produce!

MQT Growth volunteer prepares gardening beds for planting in the hoop house located at Graveraet in Marquette, MI. (photo by MQT Growth)

While the hoop house is on school grounds, the group is hoping to encourage people of all age groups and all walks of life to be a part of MQT Growth. Check the group out at www.mqtgrowth.com and find them on Facebook so you can learn more about them; find out about upcoming fundraisers, events, and make a donation towards what they will be growing next.

MQT Growth is currently working on creating a fruit orchard in our downtown area for the public to enjoy. I look forward to writing about their progress here as MQT Growth Builds a community around food.

by Candace Prill

Being raised in a small Michigan town has taught me many things; being one with nature, eating whole foods and living in a sustainable way are just a few. My family and I currently reside in Marquette, where we can grow a garden downtown, bike anywhere in the city and enjoy endless nature just outside of the city limits. In the past several years I have been lucky to be a part of researching, writing and teaching about whole living. You can find my monthly nutrition column “Healthier Living” in the Great Lakes Pilot that I have been writing for the past two years. You can also find my published geological research in “Agates: Inside Out” by Karen Brzys. My passion is to live and, teach to live, in a sustainable way, both nutritionally and environmentally. I look forward to sharing my articles on sustainable living here at Marquette Magazine.

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