As warm weather approaches, local gardeners will be hard at work preparing their plots for the coming growing season. But for those with yards that lack the proper conditions for growing or those without yards at all, gardening can be a tough hobby.
The Capital District Community Gardens may be able to help. This spring, there are plots available for residents of Bethlehem and the surrounding area to garden in the Normanskill Farm Community Garden on Mill Road. The gardens are “designed to improve public health and increase access to fresh, affordable food.”
“We do have a very high rate of returning gardeners year after year, so this unique for us to have such a larger amount of space available,” said the program’s Executive Director Amy Klein. “But this is a great opportunity for people who we have had to turn away in past years. We’re excited to welcome new people and people new to gardening.”
Klein said the organization was started in 1975 to help provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the residents of Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady Counties.
“The concept of community gardens really harkens back to victory gardens started during World War II,” she said. “It also gives people a sense of pride to grow their own food.”
The not for profit now services 46 community gardens throughout the Capital District and has eight programs to help beautify the communities and fight hunger.
The Normanskill Farm Community Garden is a two-acre site near the Grace Cemetery nature trails. The original site was started around 1997, but it was moved after being ruined because in the landslide in 2000. This year, there are about 35 plots available at the site.
Perry Smith of Heather Lane in Delmar has been gardening in a plot at the Normanskill Farm Community Garden for nearly seven years. He said gardening at a community site is attractive because of the location and the socializing aspects.
“People in Delmar know the deer eat everything and it is really shady so it’s hard to grow,” he said. “There’s a big fence around the garden and the plots are large so you can grow things like corn. … Most people can’t do that in their little yards.”
Smith said the gardeners at Normanskill are like a big family who help each other with problems and even share crops on occasion.
“You can walk up to almost anyone and ask for tips. It’s a community so people are very open to sharing,” he said. Everyone is very nice and it’s a supportive environment to learn to garden in.”
Klein said there are programs and materials available through the organization to help new gardeners and staff members are always on hand if someone has questions.
For the upcoming season, nine classes are scheduled for “The Know to Grow” Garden Education series, which focuses on organic practices, and there are five classes planned for “The Homemade Series,” which develops culinary and canning skills for harvest management. Fifteen classes are scheduled for “The Demo Series,” which concentrates on technical skills like weed management.
Those who would secure a plot for this season will need to attend a one-hour orientation session to learn how the community garden works and place a minimum $30 donation. No one who is interested in a plot is turned away because of an inability to pay, though.
“We’ll work with someone to se what they can afford to donate, or if other people can afford to donate more then that money will go towards someone’s plot who is in need,” said Klein.
Those who choose to garden through the organization will join about 4,000 other people in the Capital District. The hope is to educate people on the benefits of healthy eating in a social setting.
“This way you get the added benefit to interact with people from different backgrounds and cultures that you might not encounter in everyday life,” said Klein.
To learn more, call 274-8685 or visit www.cdcg.org.
