The Tessa Gardens
- It Takes A Garden To Grow A Child -
The mission of The Tessa Horan Foundation is to create educational programs for self-sustainability and mental/ emotional well-being that can be replicated in the form of organic gardens in diverse community settings.
Santa Fe and the Roaring Fork Valley are homes to many people who would like to reduce their carbon footprint and eat more food that is locally grown. Even in this progressive community many do not understood nutrition or how to improve their eating habits. Plastic food packaging, emissions from transport, pesticides and additives are toxic, and people do not know how to change old habits.
To watch a garden go through the cycle of preparation, planting, growth, harvesting and death is to understand the cycle of life. Emotional and mental well-being also comes from being connected to the land. For anyone who is grieving or suffering from loss, a garden provides a haven for healing.
We want to create a network of “Tessa Gardens” in New Mexico and Colorado—and eventually worldwide—which would provide jobs, play space for children, and show how eating locally and conserving resources can slow global warming and bring communities together. Tessa gardens will be sanctuaries where people can come to reconnect with the earth, learn self-sufficiency and how to grow food for themselves.
Our large, flourishing pilot garden in Santa Fe has achieved this goal. We have fed low-income families, and through the local “Kitchen Angels” and the Food Depot we have donated nearly 30 pounds of food per week for the elderly, physically ill and homeless.
Our second Tessa Garden is currently coming together in Carbondale, CO. A place for sustainable education, free art classes, yoga and health awareness gatherings and many other fun events to bring all members of the community together.
The foundation wants to encourage schools, young adults and communities to start gardens. We will offer visits to Tessa's Community Garden for local schools and interested groups to inspire them to use gardens as an educational tool. Our programs include mentoring, workshops and visits to various Tessa gardens in the area. “Tessa Gardens” will teach the necessity of growing your own food. If you are interested in learning more about our educational gardening programs in Santa Fe, please contact Tessa's father Kevin Horan at 505-690-8024 or kevinhoran@hotmail.com. For information on the Carbondale garden please feel free to contact Kristena Prater at krisprater@gmail.com or Alexandra Wettstein at aliewettstein@yahoo.com
Since her death, Tessa Horan has been remembered as a dedicated humanitarian. She believed that even one person can make a change, so if we multiply her example with compassion and caring, we can change the world one garden at a time.
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The Conception of the Garden
April Snow - Garden Under Construction
The Loyal Garden Crew
Lillies Planted In Memory of Tessa's Birthday March 20h 2006
Lehigh Sheppard and Kristena Prater
Imagined Garden Come True
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