Richland County is home to 25 community gardens, 21 of which are within the city of Mansfield. These gardens are all independently organized, some by churches and schools, others a collective of neighbors, a park or a non-profit. Ideally, in a community garden, people share the work and share the food it produces. On Monday night community gardeners got together to share their harvest and stories about their summer gardening projects. Mansfield’s Urban Minority Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Outreach Program (UMADAOP) is one of the city’s newest gardens and hosted the potluck event.
Although the staff at UMADAOP pitched in with watering and other duties, a group of children in the summer program at Ocie Hill did a lot of the work in the garden.
“At first there was lots of interest, but eventually we had about eight kids who really stuck with it,” said Carol Payton, administrator at UMADAOP and garden organizer. The youth did most of the planting, learned to weed, and of course enjoyed the fruits of their labors. Two boys who live nearby served as “garden watchers” and kept an eye on things during evenings and weekends in exchange for vegetables.
Siete Grant has fond memories of gardening with her grandmother, but hasn’t had a garden since her passing. This summer the garden at UMADAOP created a special opportunity to bond with her nine year-old son Ishmael. “He’s so proud of the things he’s grown. These are his onions [points to an onion plant ready to harvest]. He was so proud of his potatoes he tied one to a string and wore it hanging from his waist to show his friends.”
UMADAOP isn’t alone in hosting a youth-focused garden program. For the past five years the Friends of the Mansfield Parks have hosted summer programs in South Park. This year Dalton Derr conducted a nine-week, all ages program for youth to grow, tend and cook from a community garden. Each week the class learned gardening and nutrition skills and the children were free to take home the produce they grew. After the summer program ended, Derr and other volunteers maintained the garden.
The Atherton Avenue Community Garden is another youth garden supervised by Madonna Brock. Her approach is very informal. Children participate as they see fit in accordance with their personal level of interest. She believes in letting the children take the lead and supports them accordingly.
Other gardens such as the North Lake Community Garden and Ontario United Methodist Community Garden serve and are tended by people of all ages. Community gardens can take any form both physically and organizationally to bring the community together in a common space to grow vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers.
In Richland County the community garden efforts are well supported by the North End Community Improvement Collaborative (NECIC), the City of Mansfield, Friends of the Mansfield Parks, Creating Healthy Communities, and many local non-profits and individuals.
Community gardens not only contribute to the beautification of a neighborhood, but also provide nutritious food in exchange for some sweat equity. Some neighborhoods, like Mansfield’s North End, are food deserts. That means there aren’t groceries and other resources for healthy food near residents. With the recent closing of Ritchies Market, the gardeners discussed ways to meet the community’s needs in the absence of the popular store. One idea posited was the addition of a garden featuring greens that the elder community misses.
For more information about joining the efforts of an existing community garden, or starting one, contact Jean Taddie. She is a community organizer at NECIC and community gardens are one of her many outreach efforts. “Whatever way people want to be involved, there is a place for them in the community garden movement. They can help as much as once a week or even just once a month. Everyone is welcome,” said Taddie.
For more information about Richland County community gardens click here.
“Whatever way people want to be involved, there is a place for them in the community garden movement. They can help as much as once a week or even just once a month. Everyone is welcome,” said Jean Taddie.
