By Thea Hassan:
Update: See images from event.
Community gardens are a neat idea, but the Garden of Stewardship is neater. Produce grown in this community garden is destined for the daily meals of a nearby soup kitchen, the Central City Cafe.
Volunteers gathered Friday morning to begin construction of the garden on a 12,000 square foot patch of grass adjacent to Sheehan Health. Sheehan Health Network offered the group permission to use the land on East Eagle street for the garden.
Project coordinators and volunteers were working hard, sifting through compost to remove sticks, rocks, and other unwanted debris, while garden coordinator Caesandra Seawell measured out rows on the grassy plot.
“How does it smell?” Seawell asked the workers, knee deep in compost.
“Yummy,” responded some. “Definitely a cow smell,” says another.
“The cows are eating a lot of junk food,” noted another, as she picked plastic wrappers out of the massive pile.
The genesis of the garden came when Diann Holt, ordained chaplain at the Cafe and project coordinator of Operation Healthy Eating and Living, wanted to incorporate more fresh vegetables into the menu at the soup kitchen. The Central City Cafe partnered with the local public media station WNED/Think Bright and Well, which sponsored the event through Livewell. Livewell is a community engagement initiative that promotes healthy living.
Many hands went into the realization and design of the garden, and local businesses donated some of the materials.
“The garden is a perfect example of how people can work together and take care of each other’s needs. The combined efforts of all the parties can start healing our homeless population physically, emotionally and spiritually,” said a statement released by the joint groups regarding the garden.
Plans for the garden include beds of fresh fruits, herbs, vegetables, and flowers. The group is engaging eco-friendly planting methods, using used cardboard and burlap coffee bags to cover the ground instead of mowing, implementing a flower border and fencing to keep out unwanted pests instead of pesticides, and using ReDoo compost, made from veggie waste of local markets and diners.
Although an irrigation system is being installed by Davis-Ulmer Plumbing, hand watering will also be performed by coordinators for the project and volunteers, some of whom are patrons of the soup kitchen.
Construction of the garden will continue at 208 East Eagle tomorrow morning, from 9 AM to 1 PM.
“By the end of the growing season, we hope to produce for [the kitchen] to use,” said John Craig, of WNED. Craig said the plan is to create a sustainable garden that can last for years.
Funding for the Livewell program comes from John R. Oishei Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Independent Health.
Local companies, organizations, or individuals interested can donate to the garden. You can check out the Facebook page for the event here.
Images:
Volunteers Goda Trakumaite and Shelley Wilson sift through compost.
Garden coordinator Caesandra Seawell measures out the parameters of the garden.