55: Tony Kasowski on Charitable Growing.

Providing an agricultural resource for an agency serving the needy and working homeless.

Tony grows food for people in need. Tony’s connection to gardening is simple: He loves to eat and prepare his meals from his own garden. To Tony, gardening has become a necessity for true health.

Tony’s current project at the St Vincent de Paul urban farm is responsible for providing over 50,000 pounds of fresh produce to the needy and working homeless. He has also started a composting initiative, diverting over 400,000 pounds of organic waste from the city landfills. Tony has partnered with former Maricopa County Manager David Smith to create an agricultural division to the charity for therapeutic and vocational purposes, as well as revenue generation.  Tony has worked on multiple small farms around Phoenix, ran an organic vegetable seed company and is currently involved with consulting, designing and building edible spaces privately. He is focused on education and the empowerment of the individual, offering horticultural classes to special needs teens, recovering adults, and the chronically homeless. 
   

2:24 How he got started
4:05 Took on the Challenge
4:27 Juicing for plants
5:00 Over 50,000 square feet of production
8:50 Touched by the space
9:10 Energy that cannot be ignored
10:00 Still learning every day
14:00 Turning people onto gardening
15:00 Getting hands dirty
20:13 St. Vincent DePaul
23:15 Gratitude for the work
24:00 Kaleidoscope juice
32:00 Building up the client base
33:00 Chandler Farm and Community Garden
34:00 Failures
36:00 All You Can Eat buffet
39:16 We are part of nature
   
If you’re looking to garden, start with what you have and get your hands dirty.

Where can you find Tony?
GrowKale.com
Learn about his program with St. Vincent de Paul