Thinking back to the year 1994, there probably aren’t very many material things you had then that you still have now. If you do still own anything from the ‘90s, they probably aren’t in the same shape they once were. The same goes for the Truckee Community Garden, but unlike an old car or television set, the wonderful thing about a living garden is that it has the capacity to be re-worked, remodeled and come out better than ever after just a few months of hard work. The Truckee Community Garden will be reborn this summer, riding on the sweat and labor of community members, private and public donations and help from Project MANA and Slow Food Lake Tahoe.
Thanks in part to the Obamas and the state of our economy people are once again placing emphasis on where their food comes from; victory gardens are once again in vogue. The community is crying out for a way to grow food locally, and many people believe it’s not only possible to grow food in abundance here in the Sierra, but essential to building a sustainable community.
While no one knows for sure when the original Truckee Community Garden was started, many bets have been placed on the early ‘90s, around 1994. Unfortunately, as many good intentioned plans go, the garden became neglected, overgrown and generally forgotten about, save a few rhubarb, strawberry and asparagus plants.
Kaili Sanchez, Director of Truckee for Project MANA, had been working with the garden for the past three years. Despite early season demand, Sanchez didn’t have the funds or manpower to keep the garden organized or regulated and as the growing season progressed, people with plots lost interest, leading to a number of unkempt plots.
Local resident Penny Fink is an involved member of Slow Food and is known to send out emails with recipes and tips for how to use vegetables that may come in local CSA boxes. As a result of these emails, she started to get requests for a community garden in the area. Fink however knew there already was a garden, albeit ‘it looked like something that was started in the ‘60s and then totally abandoned.’ Spurred by the emails she was getting, Fink called an organizational meeting.
‘With help from Slow Food Lake Tahoe, Penny helped get the ball rolling by writing a grant to Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation (TTCF) and the Contractors Association of Truckee Tahoe (CATT) to help with funding for reconstruction and labor to redo the fence,’ Sanchez says.
‘We also started to hold community meetings on the garden and have had a few key members take over the reconstruction of the garden. We have also been gifted a hefty amount from two separate community members to help with the construction,’ Sanchez says. One of those donors is Anna Siebelink.
Siebelink has been living in Truckee for the past 10 years or so and has been involved with the garden since the first meeting. ‘I heard about the garden and knew that even though enthusiasm is a huge part of any community project, I knew that funding was the other large part,’ Siebelink said. ‘I started my own garden last year, and am much in the learning phase, but knew that I wanted to see something like this thrive in our community, and knew that (donating the money) was within my reach.’
To stretch the money further, the group hopes to use recycled materials for the reconstruction of the garden, bed materials and varmint-proofing tactics. ‘We don’t want to waste a thing,’ says Jane Weeks, a key organizer. The money from CATT will be used to undertake a fencing project, slated to start in September. Money for plants in the future will come from membership fees, making the garden self-sustainable.
I met with the three green thumbs Sanchez, Fink and Weeks at Truckee Day on a rainy cold Saturday to find out how things were going, how to get involved and to see what the garden looked like.
The actual garden site is, at first blush, nothing more than a fenced-in pile of rich, black earth. Behind the softball field, near the kids playground and smack dab in the middle of the Frisbee golf course at Regional Park, the garden sits – you can almost smell the potential. According to Weeks, they basically had to bulldoze the entire site and are starting from scratch. ‘We have so much work to do on the reconstruction; we hope to have 15 working beds by summer’s end,’ Weeks said. ‘We are all sort of wanna-be farmers, all the plants are started in our homes and when everything is ready, it will be like…instant garden!’
Almost anyone can become a member of the garden as long as you are willing to provide your time. For a fee of $55 for waged members and $25 for unwaged members (a committee is in place to review special cases), members have full use of the garden, but are expected to donate at least three hours a week working in the garden and participate in at least three ‘Worker Bees. Worker Bees, which last three to four hours, are larger projects in the garden, such as updating the irrigation system, building the beds, laying the mesh, etc. Ideally, members should be local to the community, but as Weeks says, ‘If there is a family from say, Davis, that wants to make the commitment – that’s great!’ Additionally, anyone is free to become a volunteer. This year the garden has room for 20 paid memberships. Unlike many community gardens, the Truckee garden hopes to function as a sort of hybrid CSA in the sense that instead of taking ownership in one plot and planting whatever your heart desired, the garden be organized according to the best places for the plants and members will be able to pick from almost any space, within reason.
In addition to members, garden organizers will donate food to Project MANA, Sierra Senior Services and hopes to have special sections for children, learning areas and possible even a gourmet section for local restaurants. To deter thieves, Weeks says they plan to have a sort of ‘vandals’ bed,’ which will be denoted with a sign asking thieves, ‘If you have to take something, please take it from here.’ Weeks laughs, ‘It’s ultimately self-governed, we will all be on the honor system and the nature of it is all about giving.’
Fink says they hope to grow greens, beans, peas, squash, potatoes, asparagus, onions, carrots, beets, turnips, rutabagas and have barrels of herbs such as cilantro, tarragon, thyme and oregano. The ladies laugh when I ask about tomatoes saying that it’s a lot of space for what could amount to little yield. ‘We really want people to be successful in this garden, not suffer any heartbreak this first year,’ Weeks says.
This first year will be a learning year for members and volunteers. ‘The enjoyment we get, and hope to spread is the understanding about where food comes from and the pride that comes from working and reconnecting with the land,’ Sanchez says.
Interested in becoming a member or volunteer? The best option is to join the Yahoo! Group for the garden, by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/truckeegarden/. The site is filled with updates, member posts, photos and future plans.
There are also forms available for member and volunteer applications.
~ Discuss this article with the author. Email jackiev@moonshineink.com.
