Master gardeners beginning community growing spot

A local group of master gardeners is inviting more people to participate in their newly formed community garden.

The idea for a community garden, in which anyone can sign up to tend a small plot of land, grew from four individuals who completed Iowa State University?s Master Gardener Program.

?When you take this course, you commit to 40 hours of community service, and Wanda [Sandfire] and some others came up with this idea of a community garden in order to fulfill the service and to provide an opportunity for other people and continue education for ourselves and others,? said Don Hoelting, one of the master gardeners partnering with Sandfire on the project. ?So far it?s been a win-win.?

?This gives people the opportunity to work in a group, which makes any job a lot easier, and if anyone?s a beginner grower, we certainly have the background to help them,? Sandfire said.

The group, which also consists of Glenda White and Alexi Teraj, has prepared a roughly 30-foot by 60-foot lot at the corner of C Street and East Jefferson Avenue. Mulched paths will further divide the land into individual plots for interested persons to garden.

With the increasing demand for locally grown food and increasing interest in green practices, Sandfire said the community garden offers many benefits.

For new gardeners, the community garden site will be a place where they can partake in an outdoor classroom through demonstrations about preparing the soil, planting vegetables, harvesting, composting and conserving water.

Additionally, the garden will give participants some experience in entrepreneurial skills, as the group intends to have a stand at the Fairfield Farmers Market. Hoelting hopes the stand will help recover some of the costs of participation.

Hoelting also said some of the extra produce will be donated to local organizations.

For the complete article, plus a related article on sharing garden spots, see the Friday, April 24, 2009, Fairfield Ledger.