Garden Club of Chevy Chase Recognized for Work with Urban Farm Conservancy

Propagating a Partnership and Healthy Food at Koiner Farm in Silver Spring, Maryland.

 

June 04, 2025

By: Michelle Komes Dolge

In the fall of 2024, the Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming honored Garden Club of Chevy Chase (GCCC) with their annual Gourd Award for support of a seed starting operation.  GCCC’s $10,000 donation in 2023 helped the farm purchase a much-needed generator to warm their greenhouse seedlings during the winter.  Nestled between high rises and houses in a busy suburb of Washington, DC, the one-acre Koiner Farm is named for the man who farmed the small plot most his life.   Located in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, Koiner Farm annually raises 4000 pounds of vegetables that feed shelters and low-income neighbors. 
 
Koiner Farm hopes to create a local farm system where urban communities are more connected to their food sources, donating 40 percent of their vegetables to local shelters.  They also provide high school internships, teach farm management workshops, and host school children, teaching them about the farm-to-table connection.
 
In addition, GCCC members collected 1000 pounds of plastic bags and film to be recycled through the NexTrex program into a park bench.  The bench was presented to Koiner giving volunteers a place to rest while farming.
 
Koiner Executive Director Kate Medina commented, "The Gourd Awards have become an annual tradition of the Harvest Dance, in which the Charles Koiner Conservancy recognizes and honors certain members of our community whose contribution of time, talent and treasure have significantly helped advance our mission."

 

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