The garden has 24 individual plots, each 13’ by 10’ in size. Two of the plots are elevated in order to be wheelchair accessible. A common area runs around the gardens. The church also has a shed full of tools and a chipper for the gardeners to make their own compost. Some plots are shared by more than one family. Most of the gardeners do not attend the church.
This is third season for the garden, which is always full. Much of the food from the common area is donated to a local food bank. Some of the other produce is placed in baskets in the church foyer, and people can help themselves to what they want.
The garden was started four years ago when organizer Cappi Baumgart looked out one of the Covenant church’s windows and declared, “We need a community garden.” The rest of the congregation loved the idea.
Several members of the organizing community went to small businesses to get items or funding for their “wish list” of materials. But getting the idea off the ground was slow at times.
The project came to fruition when the church received a startup grant from Denver Urban Gardens (DUG). “They generally don’t accept anything outside of Denver,” Baumgart says. “They like to help struggling areas that need a boost, so it was unusual because we don’t fit that mold.”
DUG liked the church’s intention to use some of the food for a local food pantry that the congregation already assisted.
Applewood also had water lines already running to the site so the cost was reduced. DUG tapped into the existing line and built six water stations. The organization also came up with the materials and paid for pathways and compost.
Additionally, DUG designed the garden and the split rail fence with attached wire mesh. The fence encompasses the church lawn as well as the garden itself, with the church paying for the additional fencing.
Baumgart says the gardeners have appreciated that the fence goes around the entire lawn. “I just think it’s so wonderful that the church is connected to us,” a non-member of the church told her.
Although DUG supplied the materials and much of the funding, church members and others from the community supplied the labor. “We had to have a barn raising.” Baumgart quips.
Some 60 people showed up on the initial workday, which was April 22—Earth Day. They ranged in age from young children to 80-year-olds, with some of the kids using their child-sized wheelbarrows to help.
The project took a total of 15 days complete, with smaller groups of people doing the work after the first day. Baumgart says volunteers spent one day in full rainwear planting trees and shrubs that arrived in a freezing rain.
The gardeners plant a wide variety of crops. Some choose just to plant flowers. Others have planted a variety of vegetables. “People grow things I’ve never seen before,” Baumgart says.
Participants pay a $40 fee to cover the cost of water, and they also share responsibilities for the rest of the garden. One week of each 24-week season, a particular lot is responsible for weeding and watering the common areas and taking care of the trees, Baumgart says. “I think it’s working real well.”
The gardeners also pitch in during four community workdays—one at the beginning and end of the season and two in the middle. Everyone gets together for a meal and then takes care of general needs such as putting varnish on the picnic tables that were donated by the local park district.
Applewood hosts an ice cream social in July for the gardeners. They also invite other neighbors, as well as people in the community who have provided additional financial or material support. “We had around 100 people show up last year,” Baumgart says.
The garden has been a great outreach, Baumgart says. “It’s a great way to get people to talk,” she adds. “If you’re on your knees pulling weeds, people may talk about family issues, other things going on in their lives.”
At times, gardeners have asked church members to pray for them or other issues, Baumgart says. Relationships have developed as people worked side-by-side.
Baumgart has a plot but says she is not an avid gardener. “I’m an avid organizer.”
To see more photos of the community garden click here.
