Garden needs seed money

The Saratoga Community Garden Board knows what they need to do to take their gardening to the next level, but the age-old concern of how to pay for it prevents immediate action.

Money isn’t the only concern—the pollinator mounds that should be up during the spring are paid for by a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant. Grant funding allows the garden to hire three high school students for science enrichment and paid work. The garden still needs to collect volunteers to set up four total mounds, which are being planned for the community center, the library, the hot pool and the senior center.

The greenhouse at the community garden plot group is too hot, according to Community Garden Board members Cindy Bloomquist and Glee Johnson. Bloomquist said the town does not subsidize the garden past paying for the water, so when repairs and upgrades are needed the board members must fundraise and rely on donations. For example, the University of Wyoming and the Natural Resources Conservation Service donate plants and trees to the organization.

While the community garden has seen success with USDA grants in the past, Bloomquist clarified that they will not be able to find funding for equipment improvements and repairs. According to Bloomquist, this is the only town program that runs projects on a volunteer basis.

According to Johnson, right now, the greenhouse needs shade cloth, pea gravel and a recording thermometer. Fans have been installed, Bloomquist said, but they are only one piece of the puzzle for cooling down the greenhouse to better accommodate vegetables.

Bloomquist described some unconventional ways to add shade to the greenhouse area, including elderberry bushes, which grow to massive sizes and produce immune boosting berries.

Both Bloomquist and Johnson add that the community garden is essential to the community itself, providing information about nutrition, self-reliance and agriculture. According to Bloomquist, 50 percent of local children grow vegetables in their backyard, which she finds to be a significant number.

With these values in mind, the community garden hopes to start a formal produce donation program and has begun polling the community on vegetables they would like to see. Anyone interested in volunteering or donating may contact the Saratoga Community Garden board, or attend a meeting at 5:30 p.m. on the second Monday of each month in the Saratoga Town Hall.

 

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