Over the years, many volunteer gardens have, and continue, to beautify downtown Muskegon. The Monet Garden, and the Heritage Memorial Garden, come to mind as great places to, at any given time, find downtown visitors taking a pleasant afternoon walk. This year, two new community gardens are being added to the list. As community gardens, the primary purpose of these is for participants to harvest vegetables. In many cities community gardens organized in similar ways, provide creative community assets. Muskegon Main Street caught up with Rebecca and Norman Flowers, coordinators of one of the gardens, to learn more. You can learn more about the Love Community Garden in the links section below.
MS: Where is your garden located and how did the project begin? 
RNF: We are working to turn a vacant lot on Muskegon Avenue, two parcels down from the Third St Shell gas station, into a community garden. The lot is owned by Central United Methodist Church, which has graciously allowed us to use the lot. This garden has been sometime in the making, with the seeds for this year’s effort having started last year, when the late Nelson Neighborhood Improvement Association president Mike Miller began pursuing a community garden at this location. Mike passed away last year, but it is pretty special to see that the project is continuing, and eventually we are hoping to establish a memorial to Mike as part of the garden.
MS: So far this year what has been accomplished? 
RNF: A lot of the work so far this year has been behind the scenes. We came to an agreement with the church to use the lot, and have spent a lot of time planning and organizing so that the garden will be beautiful and will allow for maximum community participation. Also, we have been working hand in hand with Public Health – Muskegon County, as they received a grant from the Michigan Department of Community Health to promote healthy lifestyles in our neighborhood and have selected both Nelson community gardens to spend some of their grant money on. This allowed us to construct 9 raised beds, which allow for disabled gardeners to participate.
MS: Sounds like you have been busy. What does your role as garden coordinators involve?
RNF: Basically, we are kind of like the parents of the garden. We are helping to recruit participants, we make sure they know their responsibilities, we check up on the garden regularly to make sure it is running smoothly and all gardeners are fulfilling their obligations etc. But really, it is a lot more about interacting with neighbors and having a good time.
MS: What are you most looking forward to about the upcoming community garden season? 
RNF: Well, we had a successful planting last Saturday, with a great turn out, so we have a lot to look forward to over the season. Of course, we are excited about the vegetables. Personally we planted spinach, tomatoes, and bell peppers and we hope to have a nice harvest of those.
MS: Thanks for stepping forward to take on this project. It is great to see neighbors working together!
RNF: You’re welcome
Check it out on the web
Love Community Garden
posted by Dan & Sarah @ 9:04 AM
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