Thank you!!

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The Community Garden Coalition is so grateful to our many donors through the CoMoGives campaign in December. We couldn’t be more pleased with the results and the generosity of this community. We’ll do our best to use those funds to keep supporting and nurturing community gardens in 2018.

Community Garden Coalition Board of Directors:
Sarah Kendrick, President
Jenny McDonald, Vice President
Bill McKelvey, Treasurer
Lauren Godsy, Secretary
Kathy Doisy
Ken Germond
Ann Marie Gortmaker
Mira Stoddart

P.S. If you meant to donate, but missed your chance in December, it’s not too late! We can accept donations year-round at this link. And thank you again for your support!

Spotlight on D.H. Crum Community Garden

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photo of D.H. Crum garden
DH Crum Community Garden partners with the City of Columbia and the Community Garden Coalition to provide gardening space and resources for all community members.

Support this garden and others with a donation through CoMo Gives this month.

We began the garden at Firehouse #5 in the Fall of 2014 with 6 individual plots. Garden participation continues to grow each year, and we now have 12 individual plots with a variety of community plot options where gardeners share the labor and harvest. We are also adding several fruit trees and bushes. The garden provides an opportunity for area residents to grow fresh food and an environment to develop community.

— Garden leaders Kristen Hatton and Julie Walker

people planting at D.H. Crum garden

Fun fact about the D.H. Crum garden: They have a persimmon tree, which drops loads of delicious native fruit most years in late fall. Lucky ducks!

Spotlight on Unite 4 Health Community Garden

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The Unite 4 Health Community Garden was established in 2011.  It has undergone many transformations over the years, and today features 40 garden plots, five of which are fully accessible, and each tended by a different family.  Our members are a diverse group and offer an environment rich in culture, age and experience.  In addition to the individual plots, we have community strawberry, raspberry, elderberry, and herb beds, fruit trees, and a rain garden.  A rain barrel system is also on site.  Plans for next year include the addition of native edible plants.

Support this garden and others with a donation through CoMo Gives this month.

plots at Unite 4 Health gardenstrawberry bed at Unite 4 Health garden garden plots at Unite 4 Health garden garden plots in spring at Unite 4 Health garden Unite 4 Health garden plot

Goodbye to a Good Friend

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Dan Cullimore helping package seeds
Our good friend Dan Cullimore passed away recently. Losing Dan is hard. He was generous with his time. He was smart and funny. He was someone you could go to with all sorts of questions. His positive attitude was one of his most endearing and helpful attributes.

For the Community Garden Coalition, Dan was first a gardener at the Circus-Lyons Community Garden (which he helped establish), then a garden leader there, then a board member. He eventually became president of the board and led our organization until he needed to resign to focus on his health earlier this year.

Dan Cullimore leading a garden tourHaving Dan at the helm helped us feel assured. He was an excellent ambassador for our group and for community gardening in general. He was reasoned and thoughtful when it came to making tough decisions. He even helped us grow up a little as an organization by working to formalize a variety of policies and procedures – no one’s idea of fun, but something that needed to be done.

The outpouring of kind words and remembrances from friends and family is a reminder of the place Dan occupies in our hearts and community. We will miss him greatly. We will carry his spirit with us.

Garden Leaders, including Dan Cullimore

Spotlight on Bethel Church Community Garden

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We recently harvested 349 pounds of sweet potatoes from the Bethel Community Garden along with some late season green beans, tomatoes, beets, squash, and some surprise watermelons we found hiding in the weeds.
Great gardening year!  Thanks for your support.

Linda Coats,
Bethel Church Community Garden

a huge late-season harvest of sweet potatoes and a few melonsThis garden, run by and for the Bethel Church community, has been a member of our coalition since 2011. Some produce is donated to St. Francis House and similar charities and some is shared by gardeners.

Support this garden and others with a donation through CoMo Gives this month.

Spotlight on Friendship Garden Club

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One of our newest member gardens is the Friendship Garden Club, which started their project this past winter and became a member at the same time. The garden is hosted by the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, but is open to anyone regardless of religious affiliation. Part of their vision for the garden is to build health and fellowship in their community. And they want the garden to provide healthy food options for the community in a low-income neighborhood.

At mid-season this year, they had this progress report:

We have 9 out of 12 plots occupied so far & we are recruiting for late season plants/gardeners. This experience has been a blast!! Calvin Miles & I co-chair FRIENDSHIP GARDENS & are, thoroughly, enjoying our ‘labor of LOVE’ & are grateful most of everything we planted is flourishing. GOD is so Good!

Dee Campbell Carter
Friendship Garden Club

 

a gardener prepares a new raised bed at Friendship Gardenvolunteers at the Friendship Garden site

Help this garden flourish next year, with a donation through CoMoGives during the month of December!

Growing Food, Growing Community

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Community gardens give people a way to grow their own fresh food for themselves, their families, neighbors, coworkers and friends. If you have ever gardened you know the satisfaction of putting food you have grown onto the table. The Community Garden Coalition of Columbia and Boone County supports numerous community gardens as well as school-based gardens, helping hundreds to grow food locally and sustainably, often within walking distance of their home or apartment. Nurturing plants becomes a valuable way to nurture community relationships!

Help our gardeners and communities flourish next year with a donation through CoMoGives!

And, please share our request with your friends, family and fellow gardeners! We appreciate your support for community gardening!

Ann St. Garden in summer with a shed painted with an eggplant

Ann St. Garden, summer 2017

Ann St. Garden volunteers posing next to their shed

Ann St. gardeners, summer 2017

Spotlight on Ash St. Garden

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Now that the weather’s turned and most of our gardens are dormant, it’s a good moment to look back on this season. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be highlighting some of our member gardens, starting today with Ash St. Garden.

One of the largest community gardens in Columbia, Ash St. Garden provided plots for more than 25 families this year and those plots helped feed about 85 family members. Garden leader Hari Poudel offered these pictures of the garden plots growing all kinds of vegetables in mid-June.

Ash St. garden in June 2017 Ash St. garden in June 2017 Ash St. garden in June 2017 Ash St. garden in June 2017 Ash St. garden in June 2017 Ash St. garden in June 2017 Ash St. garden in June 2017

Season’s End

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kale planting in late fall, photo by Bill McKelveyAs frost creeps over the veggies, the weeds and the soil, the gardening season is coming to a close in Mid-Missouri again. Before you shift away from thinking about gardening for the winter, please do the following.

  • If you’re at a community or group garden, let your garden leader know whether you’re planning to return next year. This will help leaders know what plots will be available for newcomers.
  • Clean up your plot. If you need tips on how to put your garden to bed for the winter, consult your garden leader.
  • Consider making a year-end donation to the CGC to help with maintaining your community garden next year. We’re a very small, all-volunteer non-profit, and even modest contributions help us fund water, mulch, tools and more to support community gardening in Columbia.
    Donate here today, or wait for December when the CGC will be participating in the CoMo Gives local giving campaign.