RUSSELL – For vegetable gardeners with no place to plant or no sun in their yards, one answer might be a plot at the Countryside Community Garden in Russell. An educational outreach of the Friends of SHAEC (Southern Hilltowns Adult Education Center), the community garden is entering its fourth season, thanks to a generous donation of land use by Ron Hess, owner of Countryside Woodcraft next door.
Plots are a $20 donation for a 20 x 20 area to plant and tend throughout the gardening season. Applications are available online at: www.shaec.org. Free seeds for community gardeners are also available from High Mowing Seeds on a first come basis. Please note that this is an all-organic garden.
Vote for the Countryside Community Garden in Seeds of Change Grant Contest.
The Countryside Community Garden has entered a contest to win funds for the garden from Seeds of Change, an organic gardening seed company based out of California. The grants range from $10,500 to $25,000, and are selected based on the number of votes received.
Olan Horne of Huntington prepares a plot at the Countryside Community Garden in Russell. (Photo by Amy Porter)
If selected for one of the 12 grants available, the Countryside Community Garden would use the funds to improve its irrigation system, and to purchase deer fencing around the perimeter of the garden, in addition to offering more gardening and sustainability classes in the future. Past classes have included such topics as building a hoop house greenhouse, identification of garden insects, building a compost pile, permaculture, and companion planting.
Voting begins on the Seeds of Change website on March 30th, and continues through April 19th. To vote for the Countryside Community Garden, go to www.seedsofchangegrant.com, type in Russell, and look for the Countryside Community Garden in the Gallery of submissions.
