By L. Parsons The Winslow Sweetland Community Garden has experienced its first full year of growth. Established in March of 2017, the garden began as an idea held by community members and in partnership with Allyson Hephner, the Navajo County Health Department’s Community Outreach Coordinator. In March, Hephner said, “The community really wants this. We have had fluctuated between 20 to 30 people at each meeting; you don’t see this kind of involvement when community gardens first start, it’s really incredible.” Those numbers and that strong sense of community have remained with the garden group all along. Member Linda Chambers said, “So far, we have survived on donations. The Medicine Room has donated planter boxes and soil.” Other donations include flowers taken from trash bins at larger retailers, manure and a green house. In addition, volunteers do all of the maintenance of the garden as well. Member Dan Simmons said, “We are always looking for new members, too. The fee is $10 per year to be a member and an additional $30 to rent a box.” He continued, “One of the things we did this year was have community boxes. People could grow whatever they wanted to grow. We help each other through the process of growing. You can rent a box or two or three and what is in it is yours. It is up to you to take care of it, to weed and water it. But, if a member walks by and sees a weed, they take care of it.” The community spirit goes beyond donations and volunteer work. Simmons added, “We are hoping to have a seed exchange in the future or anyone who needs seeds or has seeds to share.” Seed sharing is important to the sustainability of the garden. Chambers said, “We would love to stock up on many different kinds of seeds throughout the year as things go to seed, so that we don’t have to buy so many in the future.” Currently, many of the plants in the garden are seeding. “We have a lot of lettuce seeds right now and plenty of carrot seeds as well.” Those seeds will be stored throughout the winter and used in the spring. The myth that nothing grows in the high desert soil is just that, according to Chambers. “It takes some effort. It could take raise beds, or improving of the soil with compost. I would say start with enriching that soil; it definitely needs the nutrition. We have minerals, but it doesn’t have organic materials in it.” She explained that organic compost is how the garden has thrived and how home gardens would as well. Another issue facing gardeners in the area is bugs. However, Chambers said, “We really didn’t have many this year. We are trying to stay as organic as possible, so we don’t use any pesticides. We did have a few squash bugs, but when the plants that had them were pulled, the bugs left.” Simmons added, “We also tried to plant things like garlic, onions and marigolds in each of the boxes. Those kind of discourage bugs, so we tried to have those around.” One insect that is welcomed in the garden however, are bees. Bees are an integral part of the growing process and ensure successful harvest and pollination of plants. Simmons said, “The bees are thick on the sunflowers.” Said Chambers, “And we grew some Navajo Tea, which is really great to attract bees.” Chambers hopes to grow more teas in the future. “I would like to try having a tea garden where we could grow different things that you use for teas and maybe a class that would teach people how to use them.” In fact, the group hopes to host more classes on gardening and gardening related topics. Said Chambers, “Maybe something on medicinal uses for herbs, or canning, we are always looking for people who are interested in teaching those kinds of things. It would be great if we could have one class a month.” During the winter months, according to Chambers, the perineal plants, which include many of the flowers and herbs will be mulched over and protected from the harsh weather, “And we hope to see them again in the spring.” They will also be experimenting with starters in their greenhouse. “We don’t know how cold the greenhouse is going to get,” said Simmons, “but if we have sun, it should be just fine.” This year for the Winslow Sweetland Community Garden was a learning year. “We planted everything too close together,” said Chambers, “so next year we won’t do that. And we will take care to rid the beds of volunteers.” Volunteers are those plants that come up in the garden with no effort on the part of the gardener. Simmons explained, “We had a tomato plant come up volunteer in our herb garden and when it came up, we didn’t have the heart to pull it. So, now it has taken over and we know not to leave those volunteers for next time.” They also held a farmer’s market in September. “It was practice,” said Chambers, “and we only asked for donations. People were embarrassingly generous. But it was great practice and we really hope to do more of that next year.” The group has had great success in producing crops to be harvested and shared amongst the members and community. Vegetables such as eggplant, okra, artichoke and carrots have been highly successful throughout the season. Some of that is due to help from the children of the community. “We had the after school garden club,” said Chambers. “Those kids came after school and learned about gardening, and really helped put some beautiful plants in the ground. I really enjoyed having the kids and I am looking forward to that again next year.” According to Simmons, the first frost usually falls in mid-October. “So many of our plants will go to seed or just die off but some will continue producing through the first frost. Your lettuces and some greens will survive the first frost.” The garden members plan to continue composting through the winter. In fact, as Chambers said, “We will call out to the community to gather the leaves from their yards for us, we will pick them up. We did it last year and had about 70 bags of leaves and by spring had some real nice compost.” A green thumb is not needed to join the garden club. Simmons said, “Anyone who wants to learn about gardening, or share what they know is welcomed.” More information is available by contacting the Winslow Sweetland Community Garden on Facebook.
