Can you dig it?: City, gardeners seek to boost interest in community garden

City officials are concerned local residents have lost that gardening feeling.

There is waning interest from the public in recent years during sign-ups for the Columbus Community Garden, with some plots going unused and becoming overgrown with weeds during the growing season.

Last year, 15 of the garden’s 113 plots on the city’s north side were not rented — even after the city was forced to downsize the garden in 2016 after Centra Credit Union sold a parcel of land that contained 25 plots, said Robin Hilber, the city’s community development programs coordinator.

However, even though the city isn’t renting all the plots, Hilber said there is no risk that the garden will be closed down.

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“At one time, there was actually a waiting list for the community garden,” she said of past efforts to encourage local gardeners to rent a plot.

Launched in 1982 by Irwin Sweeney Miller Foundation, the Columbus Community Garden offers local residents an opportunity to rent plots of land to grow their own fruits, vegetables and plants.

In 1984, the city took control of the garden, which was initially located where FairOaks Mall is today. The garden is now located off Cessna Drive near Columbus Municipal Airport, east of Middle Road.

The garden has 62 large plots, measuring 45 feet by 22.5 feet, and 51 small plots, measuring 22.5 feet by 22.5 feet. Large plots cost $25 to rent for the season. Small plots cost $15.

Helping the less fortunate

The dwindling public interest in the garden has surprised city officials and gardeners and stoked concerns that the city could be missing out on some of the potential benefits of a thriving community garden, including building a sense of community, keeping people physically active and increasing access to fresh produce for the needy.

In Columbus, a great deal of the food grown in the garden is donated to local food banks, including Love Chapel and Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center, Hilber said. Around 11.4 percent of Bartholomew County residents were “food insecure” in 2016, according to Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the U.S.

Columbus actively encourages gardeners to grow a row of food to alleviate hunger in the community.

Though local food bank operators said they have no way of quantifying how much of the produce they receive comes from the community garden, they said it has been a significant source of nutrition for many Columbus residents.

Kelly Daugherty, Love Chapel executive director, said a drop in the produce supply coming from the community garden would “absolutely” impact the amount the organization receives.

“One of the hardest products for us to get is produce,” he said. “One of our priorities is healthy food. Without the garden, it would make a dent in our supply of produce.”

Local gardeners, for their part, touted what they said were some of the many benefits of the community garden.

Holly Carr, a Columbus resident who has rented one large plot for the past 10 years, said she enjoys the sense of community and joy of giving away excess produce.

“A lot of the fun of the garden really comes in the giving,” she said. “I make marinara sauce from my tomatoes and have spaghetti parties. There’s just a whole lot of enjoyment from just sharing that bounty that you get from that garden. It’s just a wonderful, sharing, communal experience.”

John Scott Dougherty, a Columbus resident who typically has rented three large plots in the Columbus Community Garden since 1996, said he was dismayed with the condition of the garden last year, citing unkempt plots, but he is hopeful more Columbus residents will become interested in exercising their green thumbs.

“I would like to encourage people to be involved,” he said. ”A lot of people have small gardens at home, and that’s great. But most people don’t have the space to do a nice garden like this, and we’ve got plenty of room. Plus, it’s good exercise and fun being out there.”

Some garden programs thrive

Not all community gardens in south-central Indiana are seeing declining interest. Officials in some nearby cities reported that their community gardens have had increased interest in recent years. The key to boosting interest, they said, was partnering with local organizations and launching promotional campaigns.

“It’s about thinking beyond just planting vegetables,” Barry Jeskewich, Bedford director of parks and recreation. “It’s about social engagement. We primarily thought it as a place to improve the mental and physical health of the residents of the community.”

In 2016, Bedford launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a new community garden, which has since become a full-fledged community park. The campaign raised $30,900 in about a year, according to the project’s crowdfunding page.

The new garden, now called Garden Park, has 70 plots, eight raised beds, a community tool shed, a green house for year-round growing and quarter-mile-long walking trail, picnic pavilion and a handicap-friendly playground, Jeskewich said.

The city partnered with several organizations, including the Purdue University Extension Office, Indiana University Health and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority on the project.

“Approximately 30 people used the previous garden,” he said. “In 2017, the first year at the new location, we had approximately 42 plots being used. And last year, we were at 58 plots.”

Franklin has also seen an uptick in interest in its community garden, according to Chip Orner, the city’s parks and recreation director. The garden had no plot vacancies last year and has tripled the number of plots from 10 to 30 since the garden’s inception in 2013, Orner said.

“We have to market it sometimes for people to know that we even have it,” he said.

Though it remains unclear why Columbus Community Garden has seen diminished interest in recent years, Hilber said it could just be a sign that times have changed.

“A gardener commented to me last year that (gardening) is not a need like it was years ago when you farmed,” she said. “It’s easier for people to go to the store and buy their produce.”

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Columbus Community Garden offers Columbus residents a space to grow fruits, vegetables and other plants, according to the program’s website.

The garden has 62 large plots, measuring 45 feet by 22.5 feet, and 51 small plots, measuring 22.5 feet by 22.5 feet.

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Large plots cost $25 to rent for the season. Small plots cost $15.

Registration for returning gardeners is March 4 to 27. Registration for the general public starts on March 28.

Only Columbus residents are eligible to rent plots.

Contact Community Development at    [email protected] or 812-376-2520 for more information.

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