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Community garden at church cultivates children
By LINDA M. LINONIS
YOUNGSTOWN
Growth is being cultivated in myriad ways at Hope for Newport Community Garden.
The garden is an activity in the Bondage Busters program at Martin Luther Lutheran Church, 420 Clearmount Drive, which is in the Newport neighborhood.
Carole Conatser, a church member since 1987, coordinates the garden outreach program.
“The idea started after I noticed a few other community gardens,” she said. Two houses were demolished on Clearmount, across the street from the church, and the plots provided a good space for the garden. Trees provide shade where children gather to read books on gardening and nature themes.
Conatser credited Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. with help in preparing the space. After a general clean-up, six raised beds were constructed and a 40-by-50-foot plot tilled. Marty Reschner, a church member, and Conatser wrote the grant; he and Diana Tabor assist in the garden.
Through another grant from Neighborhood SUCCESS and Leadership Program of the Raymond John Wean Foundation in Warren, the aspiring garden project bought supplies and materials such as plants, seeds, gardening tools, gloves and books. The Difference Makers donated gift cards to buy other supplies.
Conatser said the children involved in Bondage Busters have planted an array of vegetables including beets, broccoli, bush peas, carrots, cauliflower, collard greens, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, kale, lettuce, okra, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, snow peas, squash and tomatoes. Herbs include basil, borage, dill, mint and rosemary. There’s also a composting bin and flowers such as sunflowers and marigolds.
Once vegetable plants start yielding, Conatser said produce will be given away Fridays in the Newport neighborhood. “This is a food desert. There are no grocery stores within walking distance,” she said.
Conatser said the garden is educational in many ways. Children are learning a practical skill of growing vegetables and herbs, gaining knowledge about healthful foods, getting in touch with nature by learning about pollination and healthy soil, taking turns reading books aloud and learning about God’s creations.
The children’s community garden is part of an Ohio State University Extension summer program, Good Natured Garden Partners. A garden party is planned Aug. 24. Conatser said students from Youngstown State and Kent State universities also have helped in the garden.
Shamarra McKinney, a summer-program participant, drew a picture with the name of the garden, and Conatser painted it on a wooden sign.
The Rev. Dave Kamphuis, church pastor, said the garden provides an opportunity to “reach out to the neighborhood, which is what the church is about.” He said it is another “means to bring people together in God’s world.” He added the garden provides a chance for “everyone to learn something new.”
Pastor Charles Hudson, who leads the Bondage Busters, said the garden project “will teach children new things.” He said an average of 42 children participate daily; the number may fluctuate between 20 and 45.
Recently, girls in Bondage Busters talked about their participation in the garden:
Alexis Ford, 11: “I like to plant beautiful things. It’s good for the community. Dill is my favorite herb because I like the way it smells.
Eyrica Griffin, 6: “I like to look at the plants.”
Jiriya Griffin, 6: “I’m the herb lady ... I love smelling herbs. I like dill and basil.”
Regina Rivera, 7: “I like to look for the worms eating the cabbage.”
Endia Davis, 8: “I like to read by the garden.”