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Community agriculture reports early interest in Homegrown Harvest and new revenue experiments
Summary
Alpharetta's community agriculture division said 26 households signed up for the new Homegrown Harvest program in its first month and staff have generated more than $5,000 in passive income through an affiliate soil/compost program while pursuing alternate funding after a grant denial.
Amanda, community agriculture staff, told the board the Homegrown Harvest program exceeded expectations in its first month with 26 household sign-ups, beating a moon goal of 20.
"Within the 1st month of launching that program, we now have 26 households that, households that, have signed up to grow in their backyards, for the food pantry," Amanda said, and added that seedlings should be distributed to those households by mid‑September with deliveries to the food pantry by mid‑October.
Amanda also confirmed the department did not receive a grant it had pursued and said staff are pursuing plan B and plan C to renovate a house into a community education facility. She described two passive-income pilots: an affiliate relationship with Soil Cubed that has yielded "over $5,000 in passive income" since 2026 began and a print-on-demand merchandising experiment intended to avoid inventory risk.
Board members asked whether Cambridge High students in CTAE tracks could pursue a veterinary‑tech certification; Amanda said the high school does not currently offer that certification but dual‑enrollment options might exist.
The department requested continued support from the board as it scales the Homegrown Harvest program and pursues alternative funding for the education facility.
