How I stumbled into building and managing a community garden.
In 2014 I was a stay-at-home homeschooling mom to my 8 and 10-year-old daughters. In order to support my ability to stay home with my children, I was often looking for ways to save money and get free stuff. I had been looking into grants for landscaping our yard that were available for creating rain gardens and improving water retention on our property in the defined watershed area. Next to our property sat two empty lots, pictured behind me in the above shot. There was nothing but grass, 2 gum trees, and a large quince bush in these two lots.
The watershed grants required some owner-provided funds, and it wasn't long before my attention moved from those grants to an organization called Gateway Greening. I learned about the existence of Gateway Greening from someone I babysat for with my daughters. The couple had started a community garden in St. Louis, and told me about the amazing free stuff I could get from Gateway Greening to start a garden. Everything they had to give was 100% free, and I was after some of it.
Gateway Greening (now Seed St. Louis) provided almost everything we needed to start a community garden.
Though everything from Gateway Greening was monetarily free, there was still work to do to be awarded these free things. I had to gather support to meet Gateway Greening's requirements. The city of Maplewood gave me permission to use the land through a land-use agreement. Our alderperson and the local Salvation Army wrote letters of support for the garden. I made a commitment of 5 years to lead the development of the community garden. Our group made a commitment to volunteer at other Gateway Greening projects, weigh harvests, and provide pictures of our progress.
I asked for 6 garden beds that first year, but we were only awarded 4 to start, along with some tools, soil, and a picnic table. We didn't have a water supply, so I charged gardeners $30 each season for watering until the city of Maplewood installed our own dedicated water supply 100% free to us. Now there is no longer a monetary fee to garden at our community garden.
I thought when I started the garden that I would use it as a homeschool classroom. While my kids have grown some flowers there and eaten a few fruits and veggies we've grown, they've had little interest in the garden and the work involved. And I've had little interest to force them to be involved, as I find gardening to be much more peaceful that way. Working at the garden connects me to nature and God, and heals my soul. It's my hope to make the garden a place that is healing for all souls.
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