The Healthy Communities of Clinton County Coalition community garden has begun to sprout as volunteers worked tirelessly this morning to plant an array of vegetables, fruits and herbs for the community to enjoy throughout the summer.
The community garden at Healthy Communities kicked off around four years ago at the Clinton County Boys and Girls Club before being relocated to the Healthy Communities building at 1234 Rossville Ave. in Frankfort where it was reimagined with minor adjustments from its previous iterations.
Every year, the garden is opened to the public to provide fresh, Clinton County grown produce without any cost for community members in need, gardening enthusiasts and those seeking to improve their diets. This summer, the garden is primed to provide green beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, cantaloupe, zucchini, carrots, green onions, herbs and more as volunteers planted the seeds
today, May 8.
Healthy Communities Executive Director Lorra Archibald commented that the garden has bloomed into a community asset where community members may obtain fresh produce or satisfy a craving to garden without any further cost.
“It’s truly a community garden,” Archibald said. “Anybody can come out and get anything when they want it.”
Every year, the community garden provides fresh produce to numerous families in the community, and Archibald revels in the community’s engagement with the garden, which culminates with many recipients of the produce sending her pictures of the meals they prepared utilizing the fresh produce of the garden. The appreciation for the produce acts alongside the need in the community that the team has observed as produce prices have barred many families from maintaining a healthy diet.
“Produce is really expensive, and the price of groceries has skyrocketed,” Archibald said. “On this side of town, there’s no grocery store. If you’re over here, and you want a tomato, and you need it for supper, where are you going to go on this side of town?”
The garden also appeals to community members with a green thumb as it offers numerous features that accommodate every individual seeking to garden, including raised beds that were implemented with the move to Healthy Communities that allow for senior citizens to partake in the harvesting opportunities regardless of whether they are able to kneel to collect the vegetables. Archibald expressed in past years that the raised beds have become a hit amongst the members of Paul Phillippe Resource Center who attend the garden to enjoy the bonding opportunities with their friends and family while also satisfying their passion for gardening.
“They’re wheelchair height with the sidewalk, and it’s accessible to our older adults who can’t get down to ground level,” Archibald said. “These are nice working levels. You don’t have to bend over to work on these.”
As the produce ripens on the vines, the Healthy Communities team harvests the yield to place in baskets at the front of the office for convenience and ease of access for community members searching for produce in a timely manner.
While the garden costs Healthy Communities around $200 to plant and care for the vegetables every year, Archibald stated that the garden has helped feed thousands of community members every year, which continued to grow this year, due to the large amount of produce that is routinely collected. In 2022, the garden produced around 50 gallons of green beans, and the Healthy Communities team even planted more green beans this year to keep up with the demand for the vegetables.
“It’s not income based,” Archibald said. “It’s open to everybody. If you want to work in it or if you want to get food out of it, it doesn’t matter. For us, it’s not an income-based program. You breathe, you qualify.”
The community garden will begin to bloom this summer with opportunities for the community to participate in the gardening or collect fresh produce. For more information, visit Healthy Communities on Facebook or at 1234 Rossville Ave. in Frankfort or call 765-659-6063.
