With the rising cost of energy, food prices have been rising too.
One solution: harvest your own.
About 40 gardeners took advantage of Clarkston Community Garden’s offer of free vegetables in exchange for help harvesting this summer’s crop.
‘Part of Community Day is to really get a sense of who in the community is really interested in coming out and getting involved,” said organizer Susan Leigh. “We really want this to be community focused and really meet the needs of the community.”
Leigh and Jim Tesnar spent all last week working the 600-by-30-foot garden at the McCord farm off Pine Knob Road, preparing it for community day, Saturday.
‘Jim is the horticulturist ? he has advised and designed the garden out there,? said Leigh. ‘He really understands growing organic vegetable gardens. He’s an expert in that area. He did that part of it and I’ve worked with him on the garden but also taken on organizing volunteers and getting the word out in the community.?
Leigh said they didn’t start planting until June 6 ? Independence Township Board approved their community-garden request in May. McCord had two community gardens in the past.
‘We’re very proud of the fact we brought this garden back,? she said.
Leigh said the garden will serve a dual purpose, ‘giving and receiving? in the community.
‘The community garden would be the community helping grow and build the garden, but it also going to the Gleaners Food bank, which helps supply people in Oakland County with food,? she said. ‘It’s really looking at how interrelated we are as a community and how important it is to support all the members of our community here and make sure people do have good healthy meals.?
In the past, Leigh never gave much thought to how important organic, healthy vegetables were to one’s diet. Instead, she would just give canned items with long shelf lives to food banks.
‘It really feels good being able to give them something that is healthy for them,? she said.
After taking the ‘Master Gardener? program at Michigan State University, Leigh did an apprenticeship with Bob McGowen from Bittersweet Farms.
‘When I met him, I asked him if there was a project in the community that nobody had been able to move forward and was something I could do that was a little bigger project than providing labor for the Bittersweet garden and he introduced me to the McCord property,? she said. ‘We set things up for this to be an extension of the Bittersweet Garden.?
Using leftover and donated plants and seeds at Bittersweet, they were able to save money. They planted four rows of tomatoes of different varieties, cucumbers, sweet corn, egg plant, peppers, winter and summer squash, and some herbs as well.
‘We’ve got some lavender and are looking at increasing the herbs and perennial plants that we have,? she said.
More than 250 tomato plants and 300 cucumbers have been planted, Leigh said.
‘We really did well for ourselves considering it was late in the season and it was all based upon donations,? she said. ‘I’ve really learned a lot, and up until two months ago I had never planted a vegetable I was a flower gardener for 30 years, so this has been just tons of fun. When I first got into it, it was a pretty big endeavor.?
Leigh said she hopes to add flowers next year and expand the garden. They are relying on help from master gardeners, as well as people who just want to learn how to garden or have some skills to bring.
‘Six or seven people a week have come out to help,? she said. ‘Girl Scouts also came out and helped harvest, the parents are excited about the kids doing some work in the gardens.?
They want to improve the soil and make a few changes to the garden, with which volunteers can help, Leigh said.
‘We need to enrich soil ? we can’t just keep taking things out of the soil, so we are being good gardeners,? she said. ‘Now it’s time for community to step up and step in and help us get it to the next stage.?