Soft rustling in leaves collected in flower beds, bird songs emerging from trees at all times of day, new life emerging at every turn — finally, spring is here, and there’s no turning back.
It matters not the spiritual leaning, this time of year is a universally acknowledged time of promise, rebirth and the opportunity to start afresh.
And so it is with our Columbus Community Garden. Even amidst some rumblings last year that a location change may be in order, with a new year upon us it’s a fresh start for the Community Garden on Cessna Boulevard out by the airport.
The office of Community Development just announced that the program is starting up again this year, and accepting folks returning to plots they’ve gardened in the past as well as applications from new gardeners ready to be a part of Columbus’ Community Garden.
Why join in a Community Garden effort? If you take a look at it at this time of year, it just looks like bare earth and raw potential. But, come early summer, the garden will be a bustling, lively and colorful testament to what it means to be a part of something bigger in the community, just as it has each year.
By late summer/early fall, Sande Hummel’s zinnias and sunflowers that she grows to sell at the farmer’s market in FairOaks Mall parking lot will be alive with butterflies seeking the zinnias’ nectar, and bright yellow gold finches keen on sunflower seeds can be seen perched on flower heads. Graziela Bush’s produce, some of the seeds brought from her native Italy, will be featured for sale at the downtown farmer’s market location, across from the Cummins COB. Further incentive to join in the garden this year are the ample water spigots available to gardeners free of charge, provided by the city to ease the important task of keep garden rows watered.
Personal benefits can be gained, too. Experts tell us that 20-30 minutes per day spent outdoors can lower both blood pressure and stress. If the benefits derived from typical gardening tasks such as bending to weed and harvest vegetables are added in, advantages add up. And then, of course, there’s the invaluable camaraderie of pausing for a spell to lean on a garden rake to visit with fellow gardeners.
The office of Community Development and Master Gardeners come together to judge the garden in the fall in categories such as Most Colorful, Most Exotic Plants, Most Community-Minded, Best Maintained, Most Creative. Judging results are published in The Republic.
Worried that your family is too small to eat all the produce grown? Love Chapel benefits from the produce raised in the garden, as reported recently by The Republic. Relax, your efforts will not go to waste.
So, bring your kneeling pad, rakes and hoes, and your sunglasses and hat, and join the gardeners at the Community Garden! You’ll be glad you did.
Becky Pinto has been a Master Gardener since 2002 and the Master Gardener newsletter editor since 2005. She’s a Silver Level Master Gardener, based on cumulative volunteer hours served in the program. Send comments to [email protected].
Becky Pinto has been a Master Gardener since 2002 and the Master Gardener newsletter editor since 2005. She’s a Silver Level Master Gardener, based on cumulative volunteer hours served in the program. Send comments to therepublic.com.
