New Community Garden Comes to Lincoln

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[March 30, 2022]    A unique opportunity for local residents to cultivate vegetables and flowers this season is now being offered through the newly launched Lincoln Community Garden Project. The Lincoln Community Garden will be a place where the people of Lincoln are invited to cultivate new relationships with the earth and one another.

This will happen through tending the garden together, education, and community partnerships, with the goal of enriching the land, the community, and the health of all who participate.

The project's first venture, The David W. Schroder Memorial Garden, is located at 114 S. Logan Street in Lincoln. The garden seeks to be a sustainable place that will include composting, native plants, and eventually rainwater collection. In time, the garden also plans to add walking paths and seating, create a space to host events, and cultivate a pollinator garden.

Developed by Bethany Buscher and Rachael Judd, both residents of Lincoln, IL the garden project has been in the works since mid-2021. During this project community members and community organizations have provided input to create a project that serves the whole community. Angela Stoltzenburg, Director of Community Health at Lincoln Memorial Hospital shared her hope for the garden saying, “Strong communities are healthy communities. We all have a shared desire to live our healthiest life possible. The Lincoln Community Garden Project is an outstanding example of how we can all work together to create local opportunities and spaces for our better health.”

Bethany Buscher, acting as Garden Steward, will oversee the setup and production of the physical garden with the community being invited to participate in tending to and caring for the garden at no cost. “The amount of community support this project has already received is overwhelming. The joy of having a space to garden is only exceeded by the excitement of seeing the community cheering this program on in such a huge way,” Bethany shared recently. The garden will host open gardening hours for any community member interested in participating beginning Saturdays in May which will expand as the season continues. Food

raised in the garden will be given to community participants, donated to local food pantries, and sold at local Farmer’s Markets to support the ongoing care of the garden.

In addition to providing the community with healthy food, the garden will also be used as a place to connect with local students by creating a hands-on educational space. In conjunction with the Logan County CATCH Schools, students will be able to learn about the benefits of growing local crops in a sustainable way, healthy eating, and will experience the joy of growing food for their whole community.
 

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Rachael Judd, Community Partnership Advocate for the project, sees community participation as both the key to success and the goal of the project. “Each contribution of time, donations, ideas, and support are essential to creating a community space that serves everyone. Each encounter with a community member or community program has already made the garden a better place for us all to be.”

As the garden begins, the community is invited to participate in its growth. On Earth Day Weekend the garden will host a Garden Clean Up Day on Saturday, April 23rd from 9am – Noon with Lincoln Memorial Hospital. Anyone interested is invited to come prep the garden before the first season begins. This season community members are invited to work in the garden during open garden hours beginning Saturdays in May, join in a garden compost drive, and for those with construction skills, invited to participate in the ongoing building of raised beds. Any community member looking to make a donation of time, a financial donation, or donation of supplies can do so by contacting the garden directly.

Thank you to a generous donation and the ongoing support of the David W. Schroder Family, the first garden plot will be named in honor of the longtime Lincoln College Professor and Master Gardener. A master at many things, Mr. Schroder desired for his students and his community to “cultivate their own love of cultivation” as he had throughout his life. This first garden and all who participate is a step toward seeing that hope realized right here in the community of Lincoln.

Come out and say hello to the Garden Steward, Bethany Buscher, and get connected to the garden project this Saturday, April 2nd from 9am - Noon at the Lincoln Park District Open House.

You can also follow the garden and its progress on Facebook at Lincoln Community Garden Project, send an email to LCNCommunityGarden@
Gmail.com  or reach the garden directly at (765) 460-6104.

[Rachael Judd] 

 

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