Holidays in the Community Garden

submitted by Nancy Sanders 

“If everyone helps a little, no one has to do it all.”

Holidays in the Community Garden are wonderful. The gate is decorated, our scarecrow is festive, and the garden beds are adorned with cheer! December is a great time to have a garden. It’s also time for most gardens to have their first harvest! Green beans are plentiful and tomatoes are ripening. The egg plants and green peppers are getting plump and all of the lettuce leaf plants are ready for salads. It’s a yummy time of the year.

We harvest food for the Community Cooperative twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month.  We collect produce from generous gardeners as well from the 2 beds assigned for donations. So far, the Community Garden has donated over 300 pounds of food for Community Cooperative this growing season.

We have experienced an overwhelming response from people wanting to rent beds, and we expect at least twelve new gardeners to join our community soon. January work days and gatherings were rescheduled to accommodate our new gardeners. Friday, January 4th and Saturday the 12th will include Orientation sessions. During Orientation, we present lot of important information that the new gardeners need to learn to have a successful bed. It is one of our goals to make new gardeners feel welcome – and to help them garden successfully. We try to do this by informing them about our educational classes, soil deliveries, mentors in the garden, tools and items that are for their use and to follow all garden guidelines.

Parks & Rec has installed our new shed in the back of the garden. We are in the process of transferring some of our tools from the older bins to the new shed. The Community Garden has also received funding and approval to rebuild some of the old beds. Work will be scheduled soon. We’re building the new beds higher, for ease of use. Our gardeners will be pleased.

Lakes Park staff and the Foundation are invaluable in keeping the Community Garden up-dated and maintained. Most of the larger, more demanding tasks are performed by them. We are very thankful for all they do. We are also thankful for our volunteers that help in the day-to-day work. Trimming, garbage and recycle, weeding, watering, cleaning, mulching, soil distribution, trimming trees and shrubs, and much more are all done by gardeners who volunteer their time. If everyone helps a little, no one has to do it all. It takes a community to make it run smoothly and look beautiful!

QUESTION:  How can I rent a bed in the Community Garden at Lakes Park? 

ANSWER: CLICK HERE to learn how to place yourself on the notification list.