Community Garden, a work in progress – Daily Journal Online

Volunteers with the Farmington Community Garden held a fundraiser Saturday to help move forward with the progress of the garden.

Garden Coordinator Melanie Montgomery said their fundraiser went very well. They held a rummage sale, seed swap and a lemonade stand.

Every person is walking away with something and that is great, said Montgomery. We have had a few people pay more than their total as a donation and we also had several people drop donations off. There was even one lady who dropped off a big bag of seeds for the garden. Another lady donated dried gourds.

Montgomery said they put this event together because they need funds to be able to buy the supplies to build the garden, which is located at Boyce and Perrine. She said last year they did really well, but have used those funds to buy the supplies for the garden.

We have had some supplies donated. The mulch was donated by Tall Timber Tree Service and the top soils was donated by CWC out of Perryville. Freedom waste also donated to the garden, Montgomery said. We are trying to build the rest of the garden. We have 12 more beds to build.

She explained there will be a childrens garden area and another area with fruit trees and berry bushes. They hope to have the garden complete by next year.

Its been moving along slowly because we have to work with what supplies we were able to buy, said Montgomery. Its been slow because we havent really had the funds to be able to buy the materials, so its taking us longer.

Montgomery said last year they had a hog roast and raised quite a bit of money, which allowed them to get the irrigation system. She stressed its really important they have that so its easier for everyone to water their beds.

Everybody really gets together and has helped build it, said Montgomery. Its really a community thing. Its all kinds of different people and it's great we can get together to so this. I want to thank everyone who has donated things and supported our events to make this possible for the community.

Brigitte Zettl, technical advisor for the garden,said the community designed the garden and she did the drafting.

We sat down together at the library and just voted on what we all wanted, said Zettl. I put it on paper and made it all fit to scale. We have a pretty strong core group of volunteers.

Zettl said to be honest, for the garden to move forward more quickly they need more help. They could use more people helping with fundraising events and especially building the garden.

Just coming on Saturdays putting the beds together, filling beds with soil and spreading mulch, said Zettl. The more the merrier and the faster we will have a beautiful garden here if more people come.

Zettl said there are people who have already bought some of the plots and they are $12 for a year to rent a plot.

You get one four by eight plot and you can do up to three per family, said Zettl. Actually we have quite a few still available and if you buy a plot this year, since the garden is still being built you can have the plot for free next year.

The page will come up and you can print off the application and send it in to the P.O. Box thats listed on the application, said Zettl. We usually have a garden meeting the first Friday of every month over at the Farmington Public Library and its at 6 p.m.

Zettl said that is great place to get more information and to meet everyone. She added this has been a really great opportunity for her and her daughter.

To do some character-building things together, helping to promote the garden and meet our neighbors, said Zettl. Building the garden together has been a wonderful thing for us to as family. It has been a real benefit to me to spend time together.

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Community Garden, a work in progress - Daily Journal Online