Volunteers Work On Community Garden

PRAIRIE GROVE -- A new community garden to benefit Prairie Grove School District and Prairie Grove Senior Activity and Wellness Center is under way.

More than 40 volunteers showed up the first work day and built six large raised garden beds on school property across from the Senior Center. They lined each bed with cardboard as a weed repellent and then filled them with compost, potting soil and top soil, lastly covering the beds with straw.

"I'm very happy about this," said Linda Willkie, center director. "We're very excited about it. Our seniors will benefit from the fresh produce."

The Environmental and Spatial Technologies program at Prairie Grove Middle School is organizing the community garden. EAST Lab received a $10,000 Beyond the Bell grant for the garden about two years ago.

Tracie Ashley, EAST facilitator at the middle school, said Prairie Grove's application was chosen because it proposed to provide fresh produce for the Meals on Wheels program and school lunches and to develop an outdoor learning classroom for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Ashley said it is important to teach children how to make good choices when it comes to healthy eating.

"I think if we don't teach our kids about healthy foods sustainability, we'll be overrun with eating processed foods," Ashley said. "This is teaching them how to plant, to grow and to make choices about what to eat."

Those who volunteered on the first work day included EAST students, AmeriCorps, Garden Corps, TriCycle Farms and Apple Seeds. Boy Scout Joshua Martin of Prairie Grove has chosen the community garden as his Eagle Scout project and also helped that day. The city of Prairie Grove donated mulch to cover around the raised beds and ladies from the Presbyterian Church provided lunch for all volunteers that day.

Ashley said her students will meet with the Senior Center to discuss what to plant. She knows green vegetables will be popular. They also want to plant fruit trees. Other ideas for the area include benches and picnic tables.

"We have ownership of it but the seniors will teach us what they know," Ashley said. "This will help bridge the generation gap."

The next work day, volunteers will plant vegetables, flowers, fruit trees, spread out wood chip mulch and construct a cinder block retaining wall. Some issues to be worked out include accessibility of water for the raised beds and how the garden will be maintained during summer months when school is out. Future plans also call for expanding the garden.