Harvest of Hope 2026: Growing Food, Relaunching Lives
Eden Streets | Grow Ogden Annual Season Recap | November 2026
5 | 4 | 1,600+ |
Graduates | Employed | Pounds donated |
A single cucumber seed can produce a vine bearing 30 cucumbers, each containing dozens of seeds of its own. What begins as something small has the potential to multiply into an abundance.
That is a fitting picture of what happened at Grow Ogden this year.
In the spring, we welcomed eight neighbors to our 16-week farm internship program. We planted seeds, prepared beds, and began another season of growing food, building relationships, and creating pathways to employment. By summer, five interns had graduated, four had found jobs, and new opportunities were taking root.
Along the way, 144 volunteers contributed 404 hours of service, and our farms grew and donated more than 1,600 pounds of fresh produce to Catholic Community Services.
But the most meaningful harvest cannot be measured in pounds or hours. It is found in the lives of people who are discovering that their past does not have to determine their future.
None of this happens alone. Thank you to our board, staff, Grow Ogden Leadership Team, community partners, donors, and volunteers from EOS Serenity Lodge, Weber Recovery Center, and Weber State University. You have each planted seeds of hope that will continue multiplying long after this growing season ends.
With gratitude,
Farmer Karl
Executive Director, Eden Streets
2026: A Year of Planting, Growing, and Harvesting
Spring: Planting Seeds of Opportunity
We welcomed eight interns to the farm and began planting our first crops of lettuce, arugula, kale, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, and basil. We also established pollinator flowers and an herb spiral garden designed by Weber State University Botany students.
At our Earth Day Celebration, we planted three fruit trees and gathered with community partners to celebrate the earth and our shared commitment to caring for it.
Just as important, eight neighbors began planting seeds of opportunity in their own lives. Through hands-on farm work, mentoring, shared meals, and supportive relationships, they began developing the skills and confidence needed to move forward.
Summer: Growing Beyond the Farm
On June 30, five of our eight interns graduated from the 16-week Grow Ogden job-training program. Four went on to find employment—a meaningful step toward greater stability and independence.
Grow Ogden 2026 Graduates - Spring Cohort
 |  |  |  |  |
Dezi | Collett | Harley | Jamie | Adrian |
We also launched our Eight More Neighbors Waiting campaign, hoping to raise enough support to welcome a second group of interns in late July. Although we didn't reach our fundraising goal, one neighbor's generosity opened an unexpected opportunity for Jeffrey, who began working at our Grow Ogden 41st Street farm.
Meanwhile, new board members joined Eden Streets, bringing fresh energy and community connections. Jesse Olson stepped into the role of board chair on July 22.
Sometimes a seed takes root in an unexpected place. Jeffrey's story is a wonderful example.
Fall: Harvesting More Than Food
Thanks to our dedicated volunteers, we kept up with the harvest and continued delivering fresh produce to Catholic Community Services. By the end of the season, our farms had grown and donated more than 1,600 pounds of food to neighbors in need.
Our community also came together for the Fall Farm Festival, enjoying free pizza, games, a bake sale, and an opportunity to celebrate another season of growing together.
As the growing season came to a close, we put the farms to bed for winter, grateful for the harvest and the many people who helped make it possible.
Winter: Preparing for the Next Growing Season
The work doesn't stop when the growing season ends. We are already preparing for 2027 and raising the funds needed to welcome our next group of neighbors.
Through our year-end Give Me a Path Home campaign, we hope to fund 12 paid farm internships beginning in January.
There are neighbors waiting for an opportunity to work, learn, rebuild confidence, and find their way forward. Together, we can help make that opportunity possible.
The Crop Report: Lives Taking Root
The most important harvest at Grow Ogden isn't measured in vegetables. It's measured in lives changed.
Collett: Seeing the Person, Not the Past
Collett began volunteering at Grow Ogden in the spring as part of her recovery program. What she discovered on the farm was something she hadn't experienced before: a community that saw her for who she was, rather than defining her by her past.
"People at the farm aren't looking at my biggest barrier," she shared. "They're looking at me as a person for the first time in my life. I realized, 'Wow, I have a chance in life! Somebody is really looking at me, not my charges.'"
When asked what makes the farm so special, her answer was simple:
"Because it is so pure and so real."
Sometimes the first step toward a new life is finding a place where someone believes in you.
Dezi: Rediscovering What's Possible
Dezi graduated from our 2026 internship program and is now working as a shipping specialist at a local warehouse. Her journey from incarceration to employment has given her something more than a paycheck: renewed confidence in herself and her future.
"I came from prison. I just kept messing up. I took a chance and applied to Grow Ogden. I've been learning skills, and I just have more confidence and faith in myself. I don't get judged here. The sky is the limit. I feel like a little kid again."
For Dezi, Grow Ogden was a place to take a chance, discover her abilities, and begin imagining a different future.
Charles: Growing Food and Community
Charles, an enthusiastic volunteer, came to Grow Ogden looking for something special: a community that understood and practiced permaculture principles and water conservation.
He found more than a place to grow food. At Eden Streets' Grow Ogden, he discovered a community where regenerative agricultural practices go hand-in-hand with a commitment to uplifting people who are ready to move forward in life.
His experience reflects what we hope Grow Ogden will become: a place where caring for the earth and caring for one another are inseparable.
A Neighbor Given Room to Grow: Jeffrey's Story
Sometimes one person's generosity can change the direction of another person's life.
This summer, Jesse Olson, our board chair, attended a small neighborhood gathering during the Eight More Neighbors Waiting campaign. There he met Dezi, one of our recent graduates, and Jeffrey, another neighbor hoping for an opportunity to rebuild his life.
Jeffrey desperately wanted to get back to work. He was keeping his commitments and doing everything he could to move forward, but no one seemed willing to give him a chance.
Moved by Jeffrey's determination, Jesse decided to become his sponsor, providing the funds needed for Jeffrey to begin a paid farm internship.
Jeffrey started working at our Grow Ogden 41st Street farm. Over the next eight weeks, he demonstrated commitment, developed new skills, and discovered a genuine enthusiasm for farming. His progress was so remarkable that he was offered a position managing our Grow Ogden 28th Street Community Farm.
Think about that transformation. A neighbor who couldn't find someone willing to hire him became the person entrusted with managing a community farm.
Because we weren't able to raise enough money to run a second formal internship cohort, Jeffrey entered through our Open Enrollment option. One sponsor's generosity made that opportunity possible.
Jesse didn't simply give Jeffrey a job. He gave him room to grow, a place to belong, and an opportunity to demonstrate what he could become.
This is what we mean when we say Grow Ogden relaunches lives through farming.
Our 2026 Harvest by the Numbers
Every number represents people, relationships, and opportunities made possible through this community.
Our impact | 2026 results |
Farm interns graduated | 5 |
Graduates who found employment | 4 |
Unique volunteers | 144 |
Volunteer service hours | 404 |
Community events | 3 |
Fruit trees planted | 3 |
Produce grown and donated | 1,600+ lbs |
Area under cultivation | 7,600 sq. ft. |
Increase in cultivated area | 90% |
‘Farmily’ dinners shared | 48 |
‘Farmily’ dinners bring current interns, staff, and past graduates together around a shared meal, building the relationships that help make Grow Ogden a community rather than simply a job-training program.
Planting the Next Seeds: Give Me a Path Home
A cucumber seed doesn't become a harvest overnight. It needs good soil, water, sunlight, time, and someone willing to tend it.
People are much the same.
Our neighbors need more than a job opening. They need an opportunity to learn, a supportive community, meaningful work, and someone willing to believe in their potential.
Through Give Me a Path Home, our year-end campaign, Eden Streets is seeking to raise $100,000 in individual donations to fund 12 paid farm internship positions beginning January 1, 2027. We understand that is a significant “ask”. That $100,000 goes not only to intern’s wages, but also to support a 16-week experience that includes job supervision, mentoring, advocacy, meals, and the supportive environment that makes the program effective.
Here's what your generosity can make possible:
$48 provides Grow Ogden farm intern’s job pay for a day
$147 funds the intern’s job training program for a day.
$588 pays for staff and program costs for a week.
$9,400 sponsors a farm intern's 16-week scholarship.
Imagine what could happen if 12 more neighbors were given the opportunity that Dezi and Jeffrey received this year.
Four graduates found jobs. One sponsor helped Jeffrey discover a new career direction. Collett found a community that saw her potential. And countless volunteers and partners discovered that growing food can also grow hope.
You can plant the next seed.
Help a neighbor find meaningful work, rebuild confidence, and take the next step toward a more stable future.
Give a neighbor a path home.
Donate today at GrowOgden.org/donate.
Every seed matters. Every neighbor matters. And with your help, the harvest of hope will continue growing in 2027.
Author: "Farmer Karl" Ebeling
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