Benefits all around

Two civic groups have been working with Spokane’s Parks and Recreation Department to create community gardens and models for future gardens. The gardens include the Grant Park Community Garden, at Grant Park near Perry Street and Ninth Avenue, and the Earth Turners Community Garden at the River Walk on Water Avenue in Peaceful Valley. “If the opportunity works for us, the opportunity should work for other neighborhoods,” says Kathleen DeMaria, Grant Park Community Garden’s coordinator. The two projects began earlier this year when the groups managing the gardens—the Perry Neighborhood & Business Association and Community Minded Enterprises—approached the city separately. Both groups threw around concepts,and then the staff met with the community to determine possible locations. “It’s been a great process to be a part of,” said Garrett Jones, a landscape designer for the Parks and Recreation Department Forging an agreement and determining rules was a challenge since the Grant Park garden is in a grassy area while the Earth Turners is in a more “native setting,” Jones says. Different rules may be needed for different settings. Shared rules require that community gardeners can’t use nonorganic pesticides, and each garden must have a designated “garden master.” To organize the Grant Park garden, a steering committee, which included Perry Street neighborhood residents, came together, and has met semi-monthly since March. “We’re all neighborhood people,” said DeMaria. “We were living about a stone’s throw of each other but didn’t know each other.” DeMaria, who moved here from Seattle about a year ago, has a master’s degree in horticulture, worked for Seattle Tilth and owned a gardening business. She is growing tomatoes, basil, marigolds, tomatillos, and more in her plot. “The garden is a way for the neighborhood to provide healthy, nutritious food for themselves. I’ve also met a ton of my neighbors,” she says. “I think it’s great for the health of the community.” The Grant Park garden has about 30 plots for rent, and some are still available. Most beds are 4 feet wide and 8-24 feet long. Several beds are raised and ADA compliant. Grant Elementary School’s gardening club uses two beds, and the produce from one will likely go to 2nd Harvest’s Food Bank. Heidi Hash, a Grant Elementary parent volunteer who helps run the school’s garden club, believes working in the garden benefits the neighborhood’s youth. The club received a grant to buy a greenhouse last spring and students planted seedlings there, then transferred them to the community garden. Students have been encouraged to work in the garden all summer, and a team takes turns watering beds. “The more kids involved, the more there’s pride in the neighborhood,” Hash says. People can rent a plot in the Grant Park garden for $25-$50 per year. The group requires that owners volunteer at least six hours in the garden. The Spokane Regional Health District gave the group $2,500, which helped purchase lumber for the beds. The city of Spokane donated space plus helped design and install water spigots. DeMaria credits the city, the health district, Keane Sweet, of Clearwater Summit Group, and Lori Kinnear, legislative assistant to city council member Richard Rush, for helping the garden come together. To help raise $5,000 for a fence around the garden, the group is inviting businesses to sponsor a bed for between $100 and $500, and is hosting a summer concert series. The second new garden, Earth Turners Community Garden, is near the Peaceful Valley Community Center. “This one is really youth-driven,” said Jones from Community-Minded Enterprises. “It’s nice to see youth come to you and wanting to work with the parks department. They want to use it as a teaching tool.” Unlike Grant Park’s garden, Earth Turners didn’t have an existing water source, so a system was installed. A Department of Natural Resources grant allowed Parks to plant 45 ponderosa pine trees to help with water needs. The Peaceful Valley garden was designed to provide 7,500 square feet of space, but only about half of that is used, he says. As donations come in, the garden could expand. Jones is the liaison between park maintenance crews, department staff, and the community groups. He and others are evaluating everything, and adjustments could be made. He said there’s a good core of people who have taken ownership. “If it wasn’t for the stronghold, for the garden masters in each group, it wouldn’t be successful as it is,” Jones said. “These groups have been great to work with.”