TRUCKEE, Calif. – Slow Food Lake Tahoe is sowing the seeds of sustainability and self-sufficiency with its upcoming “Sow and Grow” Festival, a two-part community gardening event set for May 16 and May 30 at the Truckee Demonstration Garden.

The family-friendly event will include a seedling sale featuring seed starts grown and nurtured by Slow Food board members, who Koski says provide them with plenty of “TLC” to help them survive Tahoe’s challenging climate. Visitors can also enjoy free garden classes, composting demonstrations, organic gardening tips, and kids’ activities.

“We want to get people growing up here and make them understand that they can do it in high altitudes,” Koski said. “A lot of people think growing isn’t possible up in high elevations because it can be a lot harder.”

Formerly known as “Grow Your Own,” this marks the first year Slow Food Lake Tahoe is presenting the event under the “Sow and Grow” name and hosting it independently in the Truckee Demonstration Garden. The organization continues to collaborate with local partners like the Master Gardeners, who are still running their own educational gardening events across the region.

For Koski, who joined the organization recently, the festival is deeply personal. “I have been a climate activist ever since I was 16 years old… very involved in climate, especially around food,” she said. “Someone asked [at a food-focused climate forum], ‘What can we do as individuals?’ And the speaker said, ‘Grow your own food.'”

She believes the value of home gardening extends far beyond nutrition. “It just gives a lot of power back to the individual,” she said. “Food prices are rising… and the power to understand where food comes from, being able to grow it, harvest it, and feed yourself–I think is immeasurable.”

That sense of empowerment is what Slow Food hopes to cultivate—especially among new gardeners. “The whole point of this event is just accessibility,” Koski said. “Everything will be there—from the seeds to the plant starts to the education to the experts. So if anyone’s interested in going from novices to experts, this is the place.”

Beyond the festival, Koski and Slow Food Garden Manager Joey Eberhardt will be on-site every Monday and Wednesday throughout the summer, offering live demonstrations, volunteer days, and informal instruction to the public.

And the community has responded. “I am kind of baffled on how much of an outpour of community support there is for this chapter,” Koski said. The organization manages a 30-bed community garden, a 30-bed food bank garden—which donated over 600 pounds of produce last season—and an active composting partnership with the Town of Truckee, all run by a volunteer board.

For those who miss the May events, Slow Food Lake Tahoe encourages residents to stop by the garden anytime this summer to learn more, get involved, and reconnect with the land. 

Register for “Sow and Grow” here.