THE CITY OF MIRAMAR
2300 Civic Center Place
Miramar, Florida 33025
(954) 602-HELP
THE GARDEN TREASURES / VIDEO SERIES
About Garden Treasures
The Garden Treasures Video Series encourages residents to live healthy. Hosted by Mayor Lori C. Moseley, Garden Treasures allows residents to reap the benefits of the City of Miramar’s micro-urban farm without leaving home. Each episode transports viewers to local restaurants, highlights prominent chefs and introduces experts who share their knowledge about the importance of locally-grown foods. Garden Treasures empowers its viewers with knowledge regarding the benefits of community gardens, promotes local sources of naturally grown vegetables and allows people to experience how small areas can become social engines that drive productive growth. The Garden Treasures supports sweat equity, diversity, voluntarism, quality of life and healthy living.
When and why was The Garden Treasures Video Series created? Garden Treasures was conceived in response to requests from residents who, thirsty for knowledge, seek to learn how sustainable agriculture relates to healthier living. The video series is an effective way to share information gathered from the Miramar Community Garden (MCG); it is a tool to teach viewers how to replicate the City’s efforts on a smaller scale in their own backyards. Each 5-minute episode provides simple tips on how to enjoy nutritious foods and healthy living. The common element in all the videos is the Garden. Episodes created to-date include: Local chefs demonstrating recipes using MCG grown ingredients: Basil-Infused Oil, Papaya Relish, Garden Blossom Salad, and Malanga Fritters with Lemon Rose; Garden volunteer Liz James explains how to do simple composting in an episode titled “Lunch Bag for Trees”. Upcoming episodes will cover topics such as: Hydroponics 101, Micro-Greens Made Easy, Summer Gardening in Florida, ABC’s of Box Gardening and The Organic Taste Explosion.
How has the program improved the quality of life in the community?
The mission of Garden Treasures is to support the local economy, advocate environmental awareness, initiate sustainable practices and reduce our region’s carbon footprint by promoting an understanding for the benefits of locally grown food.
In addition to providing alternatives for fresher, more nutritious and safer products, growing and buying local produce reduces greenhouse gas emissions created by purchasing items from distant sources. Education outreach programs, such as the Garden Treasures, offer a model for the community to develop changes critically needed to become better caretakers of our environment.
Why is this program outstanding and innovative?
Recently recognized by Broward County at the 2010 Emerald Awards for Environmental Excellence in Green Practices & Innovation, the newly created Garden Treasures is an innovative tool to share the knowledge gathered by MCG resident-volunteers. From its first episode, a wave of interest from the hospitality, education, fitness, parenting, organic-loving and economy-seeking communities became evident; press coverage, information-sharing amongst certain circles, praises and requests for more episodes gave indication that the video series would be widely lauded. Viewed as an outdoor classroom, the MCG is a hands-on laboratory, where resident-volunteers and local experts put into practice valuable concepts; this knowledgeis now being shared, via Garden Treasures, beyond the boundaries of the garden’s fence for everyone’s availability.
