Prepare to be inspired by someone who swears he "is not a farmer".

Stephen Ritz is a South Bronx teacher/administrator.

With the help of an extended student and community family they have grown over 25,000 pounds of vegetables in the Bronx while generating extraordinary academic performance . His Bronx classroom features the first indoor edible wall in NYC DOE which routinely generates enough produce to feed 450 students healthy meals and trains the youngest nationally certified workforce in America.

Through his Green Bronx Machine initiative, Stephen has:

• Consistently increased student attendance from 40% to 93% daily
• Helped fund/create 2,200 youth jobs
• Captured the US EPA Award for transforming mindsets and landscapes in NYC
• Won the ABC Above and Beyond Award
• Helped earn his school the first ever Citywide Award of Excellence from the NYC Strategic Alliance for Health

... and he attributes these results directly to growing vegetables in school .

Dedicated to harvesting hope and cultivating minds, Stephen dreams of opening a nationally replicable Career Technical Education public school in the poorest Congressional District in America rooted in urban agriculture, green and sustainable initiatives.

Stephen and the Green Bronx Machine is the inspiration behind this guide - which has been designed to not only grow seeds, but to grow stronger communities.

The GBM (Green Bronx Machine) relies on donations to continue their work. So if you're able, click here to donate.