Three Sessions Highlight Growing Fresh Food
ThedaCare is holding several free gardening workshops at Appleton Medical Center’s new community garden.
ThedaCare teamed up with faculty and students from Fox Valley Technical College and IntelliGrowth of Appleton to design and build a raised garden bed in the hospital courtyard. Employees take care of the plants and the produce and herbs grown there are used in the hospital cafeteria.
All three workshops run from noon to 1 p.m. in the hospital courtyard. The session themes are:
- Wed., July 29: “Building a Raised Flower Bed that Lasts” led by Jim Beard, an instructor at FVTC
- Wed., Aug. 12: “Soils for Raised and Ground-based Beds” led by Steve Finley of IntelliGrowth of Appleton
- Wed., Aug. 26: “Mid-season Review of Growth” led by Beard and Finley
All programs are free and open to the public.
ThedaCare Sustainability Coordinator Maggie Hintz-Polzin said the garden and free workshops fit with the organization’s mission of building healthier communities. “The gardens and classes are designed to show how raised flower beds can used anywhere to grow fresh, nutrient-rich food,” she said. “When people eat better, they feel better and are healthier.”
For more than 100 years, ThedaCare™ has been committed to finding a better way to deliver serious and complex healthcare to patients throughout Northeast Wisconsin. The organization serves over 200,000 patients annually and employs more than 6,800 healthcare professionals throughout the region. ThedaCare has seven hospitals located in Appleton, Neenah, Berlin, Waupaca, Shawano, New London and Wild Rose as well as 35 clinics in 14 counties. It is the first health care organization in Wisconsin to be a Mayo Clinic Care Network Member, giving our specialists the ability to consult with Mayo Clinic experts on a patient’s care. ThedaCare is a non-profit healthcare organization with Northeast Wisconsin’s only level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs as well as a foundation dedicated to community service. Construction of ThedaCare Regional Cancer Center in Appleton and ThedaCare Medical Center – Shawano is underway. For more information, visit www.thedacare.org or follow ThedaCare on Facebook and Twitter.
