The latest East Wheeling Community Gardens article, written by the gardeners, was just published in the local newspaper! Read on…

With the arrival of December, and the unmistakable onset of winter weather, there still has been no slowdown in the activities of the East Wheeling Community Gardens.   Residents of East Wheeling are hard at work with the unique garden projects that are not put on hold for cold weather, but rather are synchronized with the changing seasons.

A walk down 18^th St. would hardly betray the approach of Christmas. The East Wheeling Kids’ Garden is still providing a plentiful fall vegetable crop, consisting of kale, lettuce, cabbage, and other cold-hardy plants. The combination of heavy winter mulching and the warmth from the highway that looms over the garden offers protection for the crop on cold nights.

The young gardeners were able to provide fresh, organic greens and herbs to ten families for Thanksgiving, and hope to do so again for Christmas. One East Wheeling family expressed their surprise: “Who knew greens would still be rolling in, even with snow on the ground?”

And it certainly has been a joyful experience for the gardeners, as the opportunity of sharing the bounty of fresh, nutritious foods is especially gratifying during the holiday seasons. This spirit of sharing and coming together has been a theme of the community gardens since the beginning. “The gardens create a chance for people to come together, talk as a community, and get to know one another,” says gardener Neal Bledsoe. “It draws people out who usually don’t get out of the house, and involves them in something positive.”

Meanwhile, children at the Laughlin Chapel in East Wheeling have been working on a related “back to the earth” project, namely the first East Wheeling Chicken Coop.  An educational activity that teaches the responsibilities of animal care and husbandry, the chicken coop project blends learning with the rewards of good nutrition from well-tended animals and the start-to-finish satisfaction of overall accomplishment. The children have taken ownership of the project, picking out the design and pitching in with the construction process.

And to round out the winter activities, East Wheelingers are pulling together to design and build the first ever Community Greenhouse. With this added resource, the gardeners will be able to expand their goals of community education, beautification, and food production. The gardens will have a reliable source of organic seedlings, both for their own planting and for fundraising purposes.

“With this greenhouse, we’re jumping over a hurdle,” declared avid community gardener Regina Martin.  “Once we get over that hurdle, we’re going to have victory.  It’s going to be our crown jewel. We’ll always remember what we started here… how we started it.” 

            “We’re trying to create environmentally safe, good nutritious food,” Ms. Martin continued.  “Coming out of our own gardens, to help clean up the community, sending it in a positive direction.”

             “We’re excited about having kids working in it,” she added, “providing new hope for the children and the adults.”

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Check out the mural on the left (painted by local 1st graders) and the rainbarrel on the right!

Gardeners grow a variety of vegetables, flowers, and herbs at the 14th St. Garden

Thanks to Fiskars, the tools have arrived and community spirits are high!

Our community project consists of three separate gardens. Here is an update on each:

1) The 14th St. community garden was started a year ago, and is off to a smooth start this year. The rainwater collection system is back in action, and spring clean-up has been completed with the help of some out-of-town church groups. Some folks have already planted cool weather crops, and our last frost warning (hopefully) is tonight. Gardeners are antsy to plant the summer crops.

2) The 15th St. Community Garden is still in its infancy, and is moving along slowly but surely. We just got our first delivery of donated topsoil; over the next few days, we will be building raised beds. We are tenatively shooting for the end of next week for our ribbon-cutting.

3) The Youth Garden is likewise still in its infancy. We are awaiting official permission on a large plot of land, owned by the Dept. of Transportation. Although ground has not yet been broken, plans are underway: we are planning to hire several local youth as “Garden Corps” workers, who will work part-time over the summer to help direct and develop the community and youth gardens. Also, we have developed a partnership with a neighborhood summerschool/camp, and the Garden Corps workers will be helping to devise a garden curriculum.

Our projects are in varying stages of maturity, but we remain lighthearted and encouraged by the essential goodness of the projects (and, of course, by the Fiskars grant).

More news soon!

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