SEEDS OF GOOD HEALTH: Community gardens planned for 2009
HEATHER SACKETT, News Staff Writer
LAKE PLACID — As elected officials and health advocates gathered at the Crowne Plaza Resort on Monday to discuss ways to reduce childhood obesity, another group of health-conscious locals were hatching a plan to do just that — by creating community gardens.
Mike Farrell, director of the Uihlein Forest, is planning a community garden for the spring of 2009 on property owned by Cornell University on Old Military Road in Lake Placid.
“In Gillibrand’s session on childhood obesity, the panel focused on increasing physical activity and eating healthier,” Farrell said. “The best way to do that is to get outside and work in the garden and get good exercise and good food as a result.”
The idea behind the community garden is that people who want to grow their own food, but don’t have the space for it in their own yards can sign up for an eight-by-eight foot piece of land within the 6,000-square-foot area of the garden where they can grow whatever they want. Farrell hopes the plots will be free for anyone who is interested, although Cornell may decide to charge a nominal fee.
“Unfortunately, in Lake Placid a lot of people don’t have the land or the opportunity to grow some of their own fruits and vegetables,” Farrell said.
Over the next couple of weeks Farrell and others will be tilling the soil and making other preparations to the ground so it will be ready for planting come spring. The project will also be applying for grant money with the help of Connecting Youth and Communities (CYC) and the Shipman Youth Center to get gardening tools and equipment, a toolshed and build a fence around the garden.
Farrell added that the community garden will also let people experience the benefits of eating locally.
“Especially during a time when food prices are on the rise and most of our food travels 1,500 miles before we eat it, we will also be benefitting the environment and getting all the benefits of local food production,” he said.
According to Jamie Konkoski, coordinator of the Franklin, Essex and Hamilton counties Eat Smart. Play Hard. program, a random phone survey of 950 tri-county residents conducted in June 2007 found that 76 percent of them would be more likely to eat fruits and vegetables if they grow it themselves.
“Eat Smart. Play Hard. decided that gardens are a priority,” she said. “Our strategy is to increase fruits and vegetables (in the diet.)”
This year Konkoski helped make a community garden a reality for the town of Indian Lake. Land was donated by the town and most of the seeds and tools were also donated by various other organizations. All the fruits and vegetables grown were donated to the local food pantry, but next year, the project will expand by allowing people to have their own small garden plot for $25.
The project was not without challenges.
“Once the land was donated, the next thing was to find a tractor,” Konkoski said. “Gardening is not really a tradition there. There are no farms, so everything was on a volunteer basis.”
There is also no water source close by, so water had to be hauled in buckets to the plants. A hose that will cover the whole garden is a goal for next year, Konkoski said. Master Gardeners from the Cornell Cooperative Extension also provided technical support, troubleshooting help and advice on how to get the most out of the short Adirondack growing season.
But the hard work was worth it. Konkoski said the Indian Lake community garden was a success and that many of the families that were introduced to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables through the food pantry returned to get more information on how to prepare the foods.
“The key thing was making the community aware of what the effort was,” she said. “It was surprisingly easy to recruit families to come work in the garden. I’m really excited to help out with the Lake Placid community garden.”
A separate, but closely related project will be undertaken in the spring at the Shipman Youth Center. Two piles of dirt, dug up from trail construction on the newly-created Henry’s Woods, were dumped in front of of the youth center last week. In the spring, the dirt will contain tomato plants, beans stalks and other fruits and vegetables.
“I would like to see radishes,” said Shipman Youth Center Director Jon Fremante. “I love radishes.”
Fremante said he would like to see the foods grown in the gardens be incorporated somehow into the I Love BBQ Festival, the center’s biggest annual fundraising event. The BBQ would also provide a perfect opportunity to create compost for the garden.
“You’ve got food waste, paper products and yard waste,” he said. “Ideally that’s where we’d like to go in the future.”
Fremante, who said he used to garden before he moved to Lake Placid, is excited about the idea. A garden, he said, will provide the kids with an opportunity to see the results of hard work and give them a sense of accomplishment.
“There’s nothing more enjoyable than watching your plants first bloom a flower, then a fruit,” he said. “Nothing tastes better than food you grow yourself.”
POSTED: August 21, 2008
Photos
Mike Farrell, director of the Uihlein Forest, is planning a community garden for the spring of 2009 on property owned by Cornell University on Old Military Road in Lake Placid.
“In Gillibrand’s session on childhood obesity, the panel focused on increasing physical activity and eating healthier,” Farrell said. “The best way to do that is to get outside and work in the garden and get good exercise and good food as a result.”
The idea behind the community garden is that people who want to grow their own food, but don’t have the space for it in their own yards can sign up for an eight-by-eight foot piece of land within the 6,000-square-foot area of the garden where they can grow whatever they want. Farrell hopes the plots will be free for anyone who is interested, although Cornell may decide to charge a nominal fee.
“Unfortunately, in Lake Placid a lot of people don’t have the land or the opportunity to grow some of their own fruits and vegetables,” Farrell said.
Over the next couple of weeks Farrell and others will be tilling the soil and making other preparations to the ground so it will be ready for planting come spring. The project will also be applying for grant money with the help of Connecting Youth and Communities (CYC) and the Shipman Youth Center to get gardening tools and equipment, a toolshed and build a fence around the garden.
Farrell added that the community garden will also let people experience the benefits of eating locally.
“Especially during a time when food prices are on the rise and most of our food travels 1,500 miles before we eat it, we will also be benefitting the environment and getting all the benefits of local food production,” he said.
According to Jamie Konkoski, coordinator of the Franklin, Essex and Hamilton counties Eat Smart. Play Hard. program, a random phone survey of 950 tri-county residents conducted in June 2007 found that 76 percent of them would be more likely to eat fruits and vegetables if they grow it themselves.
“Eat Smart. Play Hard. decided that gardens are a priority,” she said. “Our strategy is to increase fruits and vegetables (in the diet.)”
This year Konkoski helped make a community garden a reality for the town of Indian Lake. Land was donated by the town and most of the seeds and tools were also donated by various other organizations. All the fruits and vegetables grown were donated to the local food pantry, but next year, the project will expand by allowing people to have their own small garden plot for $25.
The project was not without challenges.
“Once the land was donated, the next thing was to find a tractor,” Konkoski said. “Gardening is not really a tradition there. There are no farms, so everything was on a volunteer basis.”
There is also no water source close by, so water had to be hauled in buckets to the plants. A hose that will cover the whole garden is a goal for next year, Konkoski said. Master Gardeners from the Cornell Cooperative Extension also provided technical support, troubleshooting help and advice on how to get the most out of the short Adirondack growing season.
But the hard work was worth it. Konkoski said the Indian Lake community garden was a success and that many of the families that were introduced to fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables through the food pantry returned to get more information on how to prepare the foods.
“The key thing was making the community aware of what the effort was,” she said. “It was surprisingly easy to recruit families to come work in the garden. I’m really excited to help out with the Lake Placid community garden.”
A separate, but closely related project will be undertaken in the spring at the Shipman Youth Center. Two piles of dirt, dug up from trail construction on the newly-created Henry’s Woods, were dumped in front of of the youth center last week. In the spring, the dirt will contain tomato plants, beans stalks and other fruits and vegetables.
“I would like to see radishes,” said Shipman Youth Center Director Jon Fremante. “I love radishes.”
Fremante said he would like to see the foods grown in the gardens be incorporated somehow into the I Love BBQ Festival, the center’s biggest annual fundraising event. The BBQ would also provide a perfect opportunity to create compost for the garden.
“You’ve got food waste, paper products and yard waste,” he said. “Ideally that’s where we’d like to go in the future.”
Fremante, who said he used to garden before he moved to Lake Placid, is excited about the idea. A garden, he said, will provide the kids with an opportunity to see the results of hard work and give them a sense of accomplishment.
“There’s nothing more enjoyable than watching your plants first bloom a flower, then a fruit,” he said. “Nothing tastes better than food you grow yourself.”
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