Community Garden festival is this Saturday

By Editor | October 6, 2010 |

To paraphrase a familiar old nursery rhyme, “How does the Little Community Garden grow?
“With work and toil, to prepare the soil,
By Master Gardeners and volunteers,
Working side by side through the years.
Tilling, planting and weeding many hours,
To provide the community with food and flowers.
The Little Community Garden, tended with love,
And blessed by the rains and sun, from Heaven above.”

The Vision Planted
The idea and inspiration for Vandalia’s Little Community Garden became rooted in fertile minds when it was suggested and supported by the University of Illinois Extension.
A representative from Extension contacted Sid File. She and Ginny Grimsley picked it up, and others soon got on board for the project.
“There were several master gardeners from Fayette County at that time, and they were interested in the project.
"Then other local people became interested,” File said. She and Grimsley have completed the Master Gardener Program offered by University of Illinois Extension.
“The city of Vandalia donated the property, Brad Brannon helped us with the layout, and we just sort of mushroomed from that.”
The Early Days…
The garden was established and grew into a reality in March 2002. Their vision was helping to serve the needs of the community.
Grimsley, File and Joan Clayton talked about some of the early days of the garden. File said that Clayton joined the crew the second year and has gone far and above the call of duty for the garden.
The first thing they did was to get the two lots cleaned off and the soil in good shape.
“Farina Farms Hatchery gave us crushed egg shells to loosen the soil,” File said. “We added sand, organic materials, manure, sawdust and coffee grounds.”
They began planting that spring. Kathy Schultz, Riitta Craycroft, Pam Yates and the excelled junior high science class had come on board to help the first year.
Lettuce, green onions, Swiss chard, radishes and potatoes were planted and harvested.
Seeds and plants were donated by the volunteers, Craycroft, the Fayette County Extension Office, Anna Zimmerman, Durwood Clayton, Dennis Graumenz and Brad Brannon.
Kindergarten and fourth-grade classes visited and contributed to the garden.
The location of the garden, close to the Kaskaskia River and a wooded area, provided easy access to fresh, tender snacks for animals. Volunteers Julie DePaolo, Yates, Graumenz and Schultz fenced in an area of the garden, using hand-cut wooden stakes.
The community garden was included in the annual Soroptimist Garden Walk, and a dedication and ribbon cutting/blessing for the garden was held.
The Rev. Dan Rush, a master gardener himself, blessed the garden, and the local songwriters group provided entertainment. The Vandalia Volunteer Fire Department and Alpha Mu Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi sorority pitched in to help.
A Place for Willing Workers, and Also for Quiet Reflection
Vandalia’s Little Community Garden is located in the original part of the town of Vandalia on West Edwards Street, just east of the Old State Burial Ground, and just up the hill west of the Kaskaskia River.
The gardeners/planners have endeavored to keep the area in a fashion reminiscent of their grandparents’ gardens of long ago.
A rustic garden arch, American flag and perennial flower beds grace the garden entrance. Bruce Bowen painted and donated the attractive sign adorning the entrance.
A unique young tree at one side of the arch was planted in memory of Dana Lynn (Adermann) Brown. A plaque engraved with a touching poem written by Dana’s grandmother, Margaret Adermann, rests at the base of the tree. Late-blooming roses also flank the entrance.
The area bordering the garden is a quiet retreat, with birds and butterflies seemingly in abundance, and plenty of grassy lawn and trees surrounding the garden spaces, which are well-blessed with plenty of sunshine.
The Vandalia Correctional Center Work Camp cleared an area of brush and trees, providing a restful, scenic area. Within it, the late Vera Durbin and Joan Clayton laid stones on which a picnic table and chairs have been placed. Memorials are also placed in the garden.
Colorful flowers, such as zinnias, sunflowers and marigolds, along with native plants such as black-eyed Susans, cockscomb and spring flowers, border the the rows of vegetables.
Native ornamental grasses are also grown. Birdbaths, bluebird houses, a few select small ceramic figures and seating at various, secluded sites are amidst nature’s serene beauty.
However, the well-tended, weed-free rows of vegetables, the bittersweet bearing orange-red berries climbing on a primitive trellis made of limbs, branches and boughs, the vines laden with ripe tomatoes held aloft on supports, indicate hours of labor, not just restful times, in the garden.
A table holds gourds of all shapes and sizes drying in the sun.
The garden has grown. The original plot, which was 50 feet by 100 feet, has been expanded. A second one is nearby, and a third one was created last year.
The garden produces many kinds of vegetables, including different varieties of lettuce, corn, canelli beans, black-eyed peas, lima beans, cantaloupes, beets and pumpkins. It also supports a watermelon patch, berry patches and, this year, a mini cotton field. The garden also yields several varieties of herbs.
Vandalia’s Little Community Garden was accomplished through, by and for the community, and for Extension. Garden produce has been weighed, bagged and distributed to the CEFS Food Pantry, Senior Citizens Center, Sweetbriar, Fayette County Hospital, Central High Apartments and Randolph House.
The Little Community Garden has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Governor’s Hometown Awards, the first awarded in 2003, and awarded five such honors in six years. It has also received the Fayette County Health Week award.
File, Grimsley, Yates and Schultz have also provided landscaping for a Habitat for Humanity house.
The garden provides flowers for funeral dinners, for centerpieces at SAFE events, for the ham and beans dinner at the Grande Levée and for hospitals.
All products of the garden are distributed as described, with nothing is sold for profit.
However, Vandalia’s Little Community Garden holds an annual Fall Festival fundraiser each year to offer the public the opportunity to share in the produce, including: dried herbs from the garden (thyme, oregno, basil, dill weed, chives, sage); vegetables (fresh turnips, sweet potatoes, peppers and black-eyed peas); fresh flowers; and by-products such as jellies (strawberry, blackberry, plum, gooseberry); pear butter and jams (rhubarb, strawberry, apricot, spiced blueberry), pepper slaw, picalily, chili sauce, corn relish, pickled beets, breads and decorative gourds.
Also offered at the festival are art works by Lynn Reznick, Lorraine White and Sue Kistler, flowers, fall decorations and crafts, and an added treat, Nori Pruitt’s homemade pies. This will be the garden’s only fundraiser this year.
The hands of many volunteers, too numerous to mention all, have made Vandalia’s Little Community Garden possible. Come enjoy the fruit of their labors, as they would wish.
Vandalia’s Little Community Garden’s Fall Festival is from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. this Saturday. Free refreshments will be served.