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Community Gardeners Give Rave Reviews
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Eight area residents participated in Britton's first community garden program this summer. The garden is located in the northeast part of town with room for expansion next summer.
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Throw out a little tomato blight, and the first year of the Britton Community Garden project seems to have been a rousing success.
Eight gardeners participated in the project organized by the Marshall County Extension office in Britton this past spring. The gardens were located in the northeast part of Britton just across from the former water treatment plant.
"We had 18 plots with many of the gardeners taking more than one," said Karen Mikkelson of the extension office. "The charge was $15 for each plot, which included water, and we also had walkways between each plot.
"We just had one spot that wasn't used, but there is room for expansion if we need more space next year," added Mikkelson. "I think it was a successful first year and the ones who participated seemed to be very happy."
Carol Dinger, Darla Larson, and Marla Dutton, all of Britton, were three of those who participated in the inaugural year of the community gardens.
Dinger was one of the most veteran gardeners of the group. She had gardened for 50 years but when she moved to town in 2007 didn't have space available.
"I just love it," said Dinger. "You get out there and forget about everything else. I just enjoy it, and like to eat the produce, too."
Tomatoes were one of the incentives for Larson.
"I didn't have room in my yard and wanted tomatoes," Larson said. "Then we got the tomato disease."
But she had four-foot peas, sunflowers, lettuce, carrots, cabbage, peppers, pumpkins, and onions. "Just about everything," she said. "My Dad gardened and I grew up as a gardener. It was just exciting to go down there and watch everything grow."
Mikkelson said that the tomato blight was something that a number of gardeners in the area dealt with this year, probably due to the wet, cool conditions.
"The blight was the one casualty this year, and we plan to dispose of all the vines to try and prevent it from happening again."
Dutton had participated in a community garden project in Watertown and just moved to Britton this year.
"I'm living in a rental house, and even if I had my own home, I wouldn't want to dig up part of my yard. This was just my second garden, and I learned a lot. My folks are also retired and helped. They really enjoyed it, too."
The three gardeners were pleased with the results of the first summer. The city provided the ground that was used and also plowed up the area this spring and kept the area mowed during the summer. A BDM water line was already located at the property and was available for watering the plots.
"I think it went very well," said Larson. "It was dug up beautifully, you can't go wrong with the price, and you can drive right up to it. I would go down there several times a week. You don't have to be there more than 15-20 minutes at a time, but I just love to play in the dirt and didn't really think about how much time I spent there. And the freshness of the garden vegetables is what I really enjoy."
The gardens also provided some time for Larson to spend with her grandchildren.
"My grandkids had a spot right next to me. They wanted to plant the onions a bunny hop apart, but that was a little too far. I think we went with two to three fingers apart."
Dutton started out with one plot and ended up with five when all was said and done.
"I kept thinking that I wanted to see how this grows and that grows," chuckled Dutton. "I had one plot of just flowers, but also planted zucchini, celery, green and black peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, pumpkins, cantaloupe, onions, and carrots."
Dutton estimated that she spent about seven hours a week in her garden.
"What I enjoy most besides the fresh produce is the learning and getting out in the fresh air. You get a little exercise, but it's not overwhelming, and you could see the changes almost every day. For a city girl, that is kind of nice. It was also a great opportunity for my folks. I will absolutely do it again next summer and probably expand a couple more spaces."
Dinger was a little surprised at how well things grew the first year.
"The tomatoes were a disaster for everybody, but I was surprised for the first year how well the crops did. It was a good crop, and I only had to water twice. We ate a lot of things, froze some, and gave to neighbors, friends, and the kids. We still have potatoes we're eating and carrots in the fridge. I was really pleased."
Larson hopes that others will join in the project next summer. Anyone interested may contact the extension office at 448-5171.
"I hope next year there will be more people and we can do a little more visiting down there. We could learn a lot from each other on how to do things. Also, with more gardeners and more produce a Farmer's Market could be set up.
"This has been great," concluded Larson. "We needed something like this started in Britton. You just have to start small and work your way up."
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©Marshall County Journal 2010
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