The public is invited to an open house at the Rural Health and Nutrition Initiative (RHNI) greenhouse at 175 River Road, Dayton, Nevada 89403 on Saturday, October 8 from 10am-1pm. The free event kicks off October as Farm-to-School month, an annual celebration of food education.

Fun for all ages at the greenhouse: The open house will include tours of the enormous 30,000 square foot greenhouse and RHNI’s Greenhouse to Go truck, samples of greenhouse produce, presentations by local students and volunteers about gardening, and Farm-to-School activities for children.

Linda Flaherty, Project Director the RHNI, says visitors can choose seeds and plant them in pots to take home after learning how to care for them. Open house visitors can also learn to identify insects that are beneficial for gardens, and take part in a scavenger hunt to find garden pests like tomato hornworms.

The event also includes information and activity booths about SNAP-Ed; Eat Healthy, Be Active; and local farmers markets and community gardens, plus booths by other community groups in the region.

The greenhouse on River Road provides an opportunity for local food to flourish through participatory and cooperative agriculture, mentorship and gardening education. The greenhouse increases access to fresh produce through vegetable donations to HCC’s three food pantries in Lyon County; serves as a venue for job training and mentorship in gardening, agriculture and entrepreneurship for local youth and community volunteers; provides vegetable starts to HCC’s nonprofit Community Roots and grows low cost produce for Greenhouse to Go delivery to the Stagecoach and Silver Springs communities.

Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties (HCC) operates the 30,000 square foot greenhouse on River Road that grows fresh food for food pantries and farmers markets. It’s one part of HCC’s Rural Health and Nutrition Initiative (RHNI) which includes gardening and nutrition education, school and community gardens, farmers markets, and Greenhouse to Go fresh produce delivery, as well as food pantries in Yerington, Dayton and Silver Springs.

If you’d like to host a booth during the open house to showcase your nonprofit, connect with others, and recruit volunteers, email Linda Flaherty, Project Director for the Rural Health and Nutrition Initiative, at linda@hcclsc.org.