An in depth profile of the Slim Buttes Agricultural (SBAG) Program was recently written by Elizabeth M. Hoover for the website From Garden Warriors to Good Seeds: Indigenizing the Local Food Movement. If you’re interested in learning more about the program, this piece is a great resource.
The piece explores the history of the program, as well as how it works now.
“SBAg starts each season in the greenhouse, raising 19,000 seedlings that will be distributed to gardeners, with some kept on site to be grown in the hoop house and the base garden,” the article reports.
It also talks about how SBAG aims to help people improve the soil on their lands, and encourages new gardeners to start small.
The article discusses how Running Strong partnered with the program in 1989, and has supported it since then.
It goes on to talk about what keeps SBAG going.
“SBAg is remarkable for being the oldest gardening project on Pine Ridge, and one of the oldest indigenous community gardening projects that we visited this summer,” Hoover writes. “Entering it’s 30th year of operation, it has operated the whole while without tribal or federal support except for one EPA grant in the 90’s. The strength of the project comes from the dedication of SBAg staff, and the need in the community.”
