Courtesy of The News-Banner
By Jonathan Snyder
Celebrating new opportunities for community-focused, locally grown food sources, the city of Bluffton hosted a ribbon cutting for its new community gardens on Wednesday.
The garden, which features 16 plots measuring 4 by 20 ft., sits next to the Bluffton-Wells County Animal Shelter. The garden also features a toolshed that gardeners can use while tending to their crops, along with a pergola.
Mayor Scott Mentzer spoke at the ceremony, sharing his awe at the generosity of Bluffton’s community and businesses to start the program. Mentzer also thanked some influential members of Markle’s community garden for their guidance.
“I talk a lot … about building communities, building connections, creating third spaces,” Mentzer said. “This is a third space. And not only will it be that, it will be a place where we can educate, we can teach new skills to people, where we can create food. This is what partnership looks like.”
Bluffton Parks Department Superintendent Brandy Fiechter added that gardening classes are available for all residents interested in gardening. Once a month, from June to September, the city will host classes on topics from the basics of gardening to preserving the harvest.
Fiechter was also thankful for the volunteer hours donated to help build the garden, as volunteers hand-turned the soil to preserve natural gardening methods.
“We’re excited to see this come together so quickly and all the public support we’ve had for it,” Fiechter said. “We’re excited to see where it goes and we’re eager to get started.”
Two of the plots will be tended by the community garden’s members. The members include Jenna Bowman, Dawn Miller, Fiechter, Larry and Peg Debolt, Teresa Ley, Lisa Mann, and Dayle and Scott Mentzer. The other 14 plots are privately rented at $10 a piece.
Fiechter added that the raised garden beds at the Wells County 4-H Park also received a boost as part of the community garden’s efforts. Those who could not get a plot at the garden were recommended to use one of 4-H beds, with nine taking that option. There is room next to the original garden for future expansions, should the initiative be successful.
“The quality of our public spaces signal what we believe we deserve,” Mentzer said. “This is a great quality of public space. That just signals that we know that our community deserves something very cool. Sometimes it’s an $8 million pool, at other times it’s something simple.”
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