ACHIEVE of Bloomington/Monroe County, a federally-funded organization dedicated to the prevention of chronic diseases, granted Twisted Limb Paperworks a $2500 Mini Grant in November of 2010. With the grant, Twisted Limb was able to reinstate a health and wellness benefit—an employee garden, for its employees that they enjoyed at the business's former rural location. The company's original employee garden was written about in the Wall Street Journal as well as the time management book 168 Hours: You Have More Time than You Think by Laura Vanderkam. The company's move to its urban location in Bloomington, Indiana compelled business owner Sheryl Woodhouse-Keese to consider more creative gardening solutions. An article in Ready Made magazine provided the inspiration and the mini grant provided the funds. Twisted Limb now proudly displays a 7 x 32 foot living garden wall on the North border of its parking lot which provides fresh produce for employees, giving them the ability to take home organic herbs and vegetables throughout the growing season. Founded in 1998, Twisted Limb Paperworks makes beautiful 100% recycled artisan-crafted paper, invitations, and greeting cards, and the living garden wall fits perfectly with the company's mission to be green and sustainable.
Launched in 2010, ACHIEVE of Bloomington/Monroe County is spearheaded by the Monroe County YMCA. The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as a number of related agencies, sponsor the ACHIEVE programs across the nation. The programs are designed to help communities fight the onset of chronic diseases through innovative solutions to community health issues.
Twisted Limb's living garden wall represents the kind of workable solutions that ACHIEVE supports. Free, freshly grown food has a direct effect on employee's health and wellness. Participating employees will be able to take home $15-$35 of produce a week from mid-May through mid-October, equaling an average of $500 in produce annually. In addition, one share of food from the garden is donated at no cost to Community Kitchen and Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, which has a direct effect on the larger health of the community.
The employee garden is part of a larger wellness policy that Twisted Limb has instated, which includes declaring itself a non-smoking property. To encourage healthy eating habits among employees, the company provides high fiber, low calorie, and low sugar snacks such as fruits, veggies, whole grain crackers and cereal bars free of charge in the employee break room. Twisted Limb also provides two bikes for use in running errands, as well as indoor space for employee bike parking to encourage exercise and sustainable transportation.
The wall was constructed by a new business, Living Possibilities, which is devoted to building vertical garden walls and adoptive garden structures for disabled and older gardeners. The business combines the gardening knowledge and experience of Marcia Pluta-Figueiredo with the fine carpentry skills of her fiancé, Greg English and her son, Mike Long.
The wall is currently growing a variety of flowers and herbs, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, greens, cucumbers, and green beans. Plants were chosen and placed at certain locations on the wall for both practical and artistic value. Creating a visually stunning wall was extremely important to Woodhouse-Keese, both in terms of the architecture and the choice of plants, which she intentionally planted in a variety of colors and shapes as well as balanced on each side of the wall. On the advice of Pluta-Figueiredo, drought resistant decorative plants completely open to the sun were put in the top of the wall. Larger spaces were created on the wall for the peppers and tomatoes. Container varieties of peppers and tomatoes were chosen. Cucumbers and beans are planted in the bottom level and will be trained to climb up the wall. Woodhouse-Keese expects to change plants throughout the year, depending upon the growing season, and to add interest in the colder seasons.
"Public reaction to the wall has been overwhelmingly positive," says Twisted Limb owner Sheryl Woodhouse-Keese. Residents in the local McDoel neighborhood are pleased with the attractive addition to the business. Passersby on the B-Line trail frequently praise and inquire about the wall and its construction. Woodhouse-Keese says that "many are inspired to try it for themselves—they've said this is the perfect solution to an attractive privacy fence they've been wanting to build." The garden wall is only the first phase in Twisted Limb's landscaping plan. They will be adding raspberry, blackberry, and blueberry bushes, a semi-formal garden, rock and grass gardens, and a colorful whimsical mural on the business's garage door.
Twisted Limb's living garden wall can be seen at 1122 South Morton St., Bloomington, IN. Twisted Limb can be reached by phone at 888.651.3636 or online at www.twistedlimbpaper.com.
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Photos attached and more available upon request, including construction of wall.