Plum City Community Garden a success

• Vegtables from the Plum City Community Garden

The bounty of Plum City Community Garden after its first harvest.
• Plum City's Community garden

A view of the community garden in Plum City.

Talk about it

PLUM CITY - This is the amount of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, beets, squash and green beans, added to the plates of our friends, neighbors and families, grown in the Plum City Community Garden.

Our first year has been a great success. The plan, from our early spring meetings, was to go small and do well. It worked!

There has been very little cost for the garden this year, with all volunteer labor, most Wednesday evenings all summer, plus other days. The plowing and fertilizer, the tilling, mowing and trimming, the seeds and plants, the fencing and gates, the signage, the flower containers, were all donated and put to use.

The Village of Plum City helped with the location and water tank, keeping it filled. People have stepped up to maintain, pick and transport produce, and help with taking the material at the end of the season for compost.

The produce was distributed through the Plum City Food Pantry, and surplus was delivered to the Food Shelf in Ellsworth.

The Community Garden idea is a very old and historic way to grow food for your area. Many local communities are organizing to have a community garden of their own. A surprise benefit of the garden has been sharing garden tricks and tips and conversation. Hoeing a row of onions or picking green beans or looking for potato bugs goes much faster while visiting with other gardeners. Many of the garden neighbors and people out walking will stop by to say hello and ask about the garden. Extra hoes are available if needed.

A pot luck was held in October for all the volunteers who helped out this year. There is always room for more volunteers. We will find something for you to do! Call Jeff Gumbusky at 612-532-2582 if questions.

Tags: communities, plum, city