FARMINGTON — The Healthy Community Coalition is bringing back the Hope Harvest Community Garden this year after a year’s rest.
A series of Garden Days is being offered starting Thursday, June 6, and continuing on June 12, 13 and 20. They will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day at the garden on the grounds of Franklin Memorial Hospital.
During those days, the coalition will offer instruction to the public on container gardening, according to Laura Quynn of the coalition. The Cooperative Extension will be there with gardening information, the coalition will have a canning table and nutrition table, and the Mobile Health Unit will provide health screenings and information.
Seedlings will be planted in the container gardens. Tomato, eggplant and pepper seedlings have been donated from Amy LeBlanc of Whitehill Farm, Quynn said. There are also a few cucumber seedlings.
Each participant in the container event will get a bucket and seedling of their choice to plant and take home, Elizabeth Quigley of coalition said. There are also instructions for care of the plant and recipes.
Coalition staff had the garden rototilled and fertilized earlier this year. Recent rains and hot sun started a growth of weeds. The women were covering portions of the garden Tuesday with black plastic to eliminate the weeds in preparation for planting, Quynn said. The plastic will be rolled back when it’s time to plant.
They were also forming mounds of soil for squash plants.
Volunteers are needed and wanted, Quynn expressed. There is a need for help with planting, weeding and harvesting produce.
The garden produce will be donated but the 60- by 110-foot garden plot is also a learning tool for the community, according to a garden Web page.
In the past, 175 volunteers were involved in growing more than 2,200 pounds of chemical-free produce that was donated to area food pantries.
The garden is between the Mt. Blue Health Center and the hospital, overlooking Routes 2 and 4.
It is a collaboration between the coalition, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Master Gardeners, Franklin Memorial Hospital, Western Maine Community Action and local groups and businesses.
abryant@sunjournal.com
-
- Healthy Community Coalition staff members Elizabeth Quigley, left, and Laura Quynn work on the Hope Harvest Community Garden in Farmington on Tuesday.
-
- Healthy Community Coalition staff members Laura Quynn, left, and Elizabeth Quigley work on the Hope Harvest Community Garden in Farmington on Tuesday.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.