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.

Warm Season Transplants This Weekend

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passing a bowl of cherry tomatoes from one pair of hands to another This Saturday and Sunday, May 6 & 7, the CGC will offer seedlings of warm-season vegetables to gardeners at our member gardens. We’ll have varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Sweet potato slips will be available too.

Saturday, May 6, 10 a.m to 2 p.m.
Sunday, May 7, 12 to 1 p.m.
at Claudell Commuity Garden,
711 Claudell Lane (map)

Plants are free to member gardeners, but we welcome donations of $1-$2 per 4-pack to help offset the cost. Row cover will be available for sale.

Cool Season Transplants This Weekend

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photo of cauliflower and cabbagesThis weekend, April 8 & 9, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday and Noon-2 p.m. on Sunday, the CGC will have broccoli, green and red cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, lettuce and swiss chard seedlings available for those gardening at our member gardens. Plants will be distributed at the Claudell Garden, 711 Claudell Lane.

If you are able to make a donation of 25-50¢ per plant, this helps offset our costs of buying and transporting them. We ask that you give what you can, but you will not be refused for lack of a donation.

We may also have some row cover available. This lightweight material can help protect young plants from chewing insects while still letting light and water through. It is used with metal hoops to hold it up over your plants. We suggest a donation of 25¢ per linear foot.

Please note: we can only offer this service to those gardening in our member gardens, not the public at large.

Community Gardening Season Kicks Off

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It’s definitely time to think about green veggies and spring gardening! We’re getting more requests for new garden plots every week, and we have our kick-off events coming up soon. Here’s what’s on tap!

Spring Thaw Community Gardening Kick-Off

Saturday, February 25, 2017
Noon-2 p.m.

ARC (Activities & Recreation Center), 1701 W. Ash St.

This is an informal event where new or returning gardeners can drop in to meet garden leaders and fellow gardeners can talk about plans for the new gardening season. Representatives from our member gardens will all be gathered in one place to get organized and sign up new gardeners. Seeds will be distributed free of charge, and we’ll have a few snacks and drinks available.

And to prepare for giving away those seeds. . .

Seed Repacking Party

Monday, February 20, 6-8 p.m. at Centro Latino

Gardeners and volunteers are invited to help us make seed packets to be given away at the Spring Thaw. Because we provide some food, we have to limit the attendance. If you wish to attend, you must RSVP to dan@comogardens.org NO LATER than 5 p.m. Wednesday, February 15.

Season’s End

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frost-berries-pexelsAfter an extended fall gardening season here in Columbia and Boone County, the weather has finally cooled down. We hope you found time to harvest those final peppers, green tomatoes and sweet potatoes before the frost and to clean up your garden for the winter.

If you’ve gardened at one of our community gardens this year, here are some closing notes to think about:

  • 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 small contributions help us fund water, mulch, tools and more to support community gardening in Columbia. You can donate here.

Finally, we’d also like to note that member gardens both expanded and contracted this year. Many of our gardens added plots and welcomed more people than ever, including Ash St., Ann St., D.H. Crum, Broadway Christian and Unite 4 Health. Additionally, we welcomed the Harrisburg Schools Outdoor Classroom and the West Middle School garden as member gardens in 2016. On a sad note, however, the Benton-Stephens Community Garden on Windsor shut down after 9 years of use. Many gardeners shared warm memories about how much the garden meant to them. We know they cherished the community space the garden provided, and we thank land owner Mark Stevenson for the many years of use.