Springfield Community Gardens

It might be hot outside, but our lettuce is looking good under the shade! Here’s a shout out to all the farmers persevering through the heat to keep our community fed.

We are always grateful to bring farmers on TV with Ozarks First! This week we spotlighted Pesto For All, and even squeezed in a shout out to our cheese friends at Terrell Creek Farm! Local food is love!

Eating The Ozarks With Rachel West And Pesto For All Eating The Ozarks With Rachel West And Pesto For All

We just delivered 600 pounds of pasture raised Black Angus beef patties from CF Cattle Company to Springfield Public Schools, Springfield, MO because we believe in a community where everyone has access to healthy local food!

This is what community health can look like! SCG partners with and Drury University to bring healthcare into the community, creating a space where neighbors, healthcare providers, students, Community Health Workers, local food, and conversation can all come together.

These circles are about looking at health as something bigger than what happens inside a doctor’s office. Access to nourishing food, connection, movement, supportive relationships, and the community around us all play a role in how we feel and how we thrive. Springfield Community Gardens is proud to be part of this collaborative ground breaking work, helping connect people with fresh, locally grown food, and resources that help build healthier lives.

10 participants for the second Grant Beach garden workshop, Growing a Fabulous Fall Garden. Lots of good community connections made!

Wren Haffner of Mountain Jewel will be sharing her knowledge of two of the Ozarks’ most treasured woodland plants — American ginseng and Goldenseal. Growing beneath the forest canopy, Ginseng and Goldenseal have a long history in the Ozarks, but its future depends on thoughtful stewardship, responsible harvesting, and people willing to learn how to care for these special woodland ecosystems.
Workshops like this are such a wonderful reminder that agriculture doesn’t always happen in a field. Sometimes it happens beneath the trees. Thank you, Wren, for continuing to teach, grow, and share this knowledge with our community!

Here’s a link to the workshop: https://ozarkmountainjewel.com/goldenseal-and-ginseng-cultivation-workshops-2026/

We know you may have seen these shish*to peppers before, but we wanted to share another look, this time alongside fried green tomatoes, because we’re excited about all the possibilities for locally grown food on the menu! Over the next couple of months, Dogwood Canyon will be featuring specials highlighting local farmers and seasonal ingredients from across the Ozarks, in collaboration with Springfield Community Gardens and the wonderful farmers we work with.