On Sunday I went home to my parents farm to help out with some projects. Before we got to the farm my mother showed me a community garden outside of Verona. This Community Garden is nestled in between a couple small stands of woods and is resting on top of some lowland/wetlands. It’s a beautiful and large space for a growing garden.
My parents met some of the leaders of the garden as they were looking for open pollinated, non-GMO seed. This is only the second year of the garden. For the space that was not tilled us for garden use, they wanted to plant milling grains that could be used by all garden members. My parents supplied them with some white corn, which should mill up wonderfully. The seed is doing fairly well considering the field was flooded at least twice this Spring.
This garden had a fantastic system for beds not yet claimed by members. Usually, garden spaces will just lay fallow when there aren’t enough members to claim the spaces. In this garden, the beds were planted with Spring Wheat. Not only will this help keep the weeds in check but it also provides more milling grains for members. It also looks amazing. I absolutely love this idea! I am thinking we might be able to do something similar at Crowley Station Community Garden. What a site the wheat would make against the view of the lake!
Ideas and seeds are two of the most valuable resources that we can share between rural and urban areas. Farms and gardens have a lot in common with each other. There differences are what can create the most solid and transformational bridges between regions and people while strengthening our food systems and communities. I look forward to seeing what this Community Garden and my parents’ farm can do!
Esoteric Moment 