Dig This! is an event held twice a year at the beginning of our best growing seasons (Spring and Fall in the New Orleans area) to teach folks how to grow food at home.

The weather was perfect at the Dig This! event held on Algiers Point at the Ovah da Rivah Creole Folk Life Village that nests between the levees across from the Old Algiers Courthouse. Attendees had a choice of six classes to pick from, on two levels: Ground Level (for beginning gardeners) and the Green Thumb Level (for more seasoned growers). In the afternoon, a hands-on workshop called "Talking Dirt" was held at the nearby Common Ground Community Garden, where participants worked hands-on to learn how to build a rainwater cistern, create a worm bin, renovate a raised bed, and test the soil.

The day started with an introduction to the Food & Farm Network's current work. Dig This! travels to the neighborhood in which we focus our work, and so Algiers was the location for the Fall 2007 event. Former director Marilyn Yank explained how Algiers has been a neighborhood in which we have worked with residents to create a Neighborhood Food Map to identify places to grow or buy food in the neighborhood. She further explained about the food projects we have begun to improve the access to healthful food. Next came students from O. Perry Walker High School in Algiers, talking about their work with a community outreach staff person from Food & Farm Network, Johanna Gilligan, on The Food Talk Project. The students explained how they interviewed elders in the community about how they used to get food in their neighborhoods. The students were proud to explain what they learned at their field trips to a nearby farm, and the local produce stand of Mr. George, and how they were excited to put together the posters that told their subject's stories to the rest of the community.

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Dig This! is a series of seminars designed to give you access to fresh food in your own yard by teaching you skills to grow food crops yourself.

Dig This! is an event hosted by the New Orleans Food & Farm Network twice a year at the beginning of the best growing seasons for New Orleans. It is a “traveling” event, going to the neighborhoods with which the Food & Farm Network is already working to better healthy food access. An engaging, day-long, educational event, Dig This! gathers gardening and horticultural experts to present classes and workshops to the public about sustainable food gardening specific to the New Orleans area. We would love for you attend!

Look at what some of the former Dig This participants said:

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The Food & Farm Network has the former Dig This! growing seminars for you to look back on.

Take a gander at the past Dig This! seminars:

• Our first Dig This! Dig This! 2005
• Dig This! Spring 2007

» Click here to sign up for the next Dig This!

We're looking for sponsors and contributors for Dig This!, a day-long event on sustainable food growing techniques for the beginner and experienced home grower. New Orleans Food and Farm Network produces this twice-yearly gardening seminar, first begun in 2005 before Katrina, as one important way to improve the community's access to fresh food.

The production and facilitation of an event like Dig This! takes a lot of dedicated volunteers and generous sponsors. To help keep the registration fee affordable and make scholarships available to selected participants, we rely on our sponsors. We hope that you will support this community education project by becoming a Dig This! sponsor.

To sign up for a sponsorship level online now, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on "Continued" to get to the end of this article for an easy and secure PayPal connection.

For more information on sponsorship levels and contribution opportunities, please read on for more information about the different levels and perks of each type of sponsorship. All sponsorship levels are tax deductable.

Presenting Sponsor $1,000 (& equipment/materials if desired)

Supports the overall operations of the Fall 2007 Dig This! Your business name and logo will be featured as Presenting Sponsor—Dig This presented by YOUR Business—and mentioned as such in all promotional material with prioritized listing, including:

• New Orleans Food & Farm Network's website (www.noffn.org) with a link to your company's/organization's website
• Program cover and corresponding inserts
• Printed media, promotional materials
• Spoken promotions, i.e. radio, TV, speaking engagements, etc.
• Follow-up informational mailings to attendees

Session Sponsor $150 (& equipment/materials if desired)

Supports a specific session during the Fall 2007 Dig This! Your business name will be listed as Session Sponsor —This Composting Session brought to you by YOUR Business—and mentioned as such in promotional materials, including/ on:

• New Orleans Food & Farm Network's website (www.noffn.org) with a link to your company's/organization's website
• Program cover and in your session's listings in program
• Printed media, promotional materials
• Spoken promotions, i.e. radio, TV, speaking engagements, etc.

Scholarship Sponsor $50 per scholarship

Provides tuition for a community member who could not otherwise afford to attend. Your business name or individual listed as Scholarship Sponsor in the following:

• Program
• New Orleans Food & Farm Network website

Material Donation Sponsor $100 and up of Retail Value Merchandise

Provides materials to support the general operations of Fall 2007 Dig This! All material donation sponsors will be included in the following based on sponsorship levels:

• Program as in —Shirts/planters/signage/etc. provided by YOUR busines
• New Orleans Food & Farm Network's website
• Promotional materials
• Follow-up informational mailings to attendees

To become a Material Donation Sponsor, please call (504) 864-2009.

Material Donation Sponsors can sign on at the below levels:

• At $100 - $199 level: Bronze Shovel Sponsor
• At $200 - $299 level: Silver Shovel
• At $300 - $499 level: Gold Shovel
• At $500 - $1000 level: Platinum Shovel

For more information about becoming a sponsor, please call (504) 864-2009. Thanks for considering sponsoring Dig This!
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