GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo.—If the success of a community garden is measured by the support it receives, then the Glenwood Springs garden is booming.
Garden manager, Jennifer Vanian, says the success of Glenwood’s new Community Garden is evident by the amount of work completed during its first season.
“I think it was totally successful,” Vanian said. “We had a pretty good growing season.”
Vanian has been very busy this summer tending to the garden. She said that, despite a late start to the planting season, more than 40 garden plots were producing vegetables, flowers and even pumpkins.
City Council approved the Community Garden in March of this year. Since then, interest has flourished. Many locals have contributed to the garden in more ways than planting a crop.
“We had a lot of help from people this year,” Vanian said.
Materials for an 8-foot wildlife fence was donated by the Habitat Partners Program through the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The city of Glenwood Springs provided a tap that brought water to the garden. There was even an elaborate gate decorating the entrance of the garden, built and installed by local contractor Chris Shaw.
“He did that just because he wanted to,” Vanian said.
All that extra work helped the gardeners get to their main objective: gardening.
Vanian said that while 39 families had gardens this year, she received interest from groups such as LIFT-UP and Feed My Sheep Ministries, which supported their own garden plots.
The LIFT-UP garden Vanian cared for herself, but the food will be given away as part of the local nonprofit’s annual Thanksgiving baskets, Vanian said. As for the Feed My Sheep garden, Vanian said several people from the nonprofit got their hands dirty doing their own gardening.
“They had a lot of ministers who took care of their garden,” Vanian said, adding that one man was over there every day working in the garden.
In all, the garden has room for about 120 plots on its 1.5 acres of land, with plots ranging in size. The smallest are 10 feet by 15 feet, and the largest garden plot this year was 10 feet by 50 feet, Vanian said.
She expects interest to grow like a weed and double in the garden’s second year.
“We are planning on expanding to at least 30 more gardens next year,” Vanian said. “But I think we are going to do better than that.”
Ideas for a honey bee colony and fruit trees have been tossed around and could find their way into the garden in the future.
Vanian is also doing an experimental, winter garden, which will consist of several items like turnips, spinach and dandelions, she said. The crops are planted in the fall and harvested in December, she said.
It’s another aspect of the garden that encourages and educates the community on gardening and how it can be done all year long.
“I’m more than excited about it,” Vanian said. “I’m really passionate about it. There is a whole movement around the country about getting gardens in the schools, and in the community, and getting the community educated about how having a garden is really important.
“People need to get back to their roots,” she said. “And food is their roots.”
