Apple Valley gardening organization grows food and community

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A group of community volunteers and students from the School of Environmental Studies began construction on the garden last October. Also in attendance was Apple Valley Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland (center), Partnership Garden Manager Pat Schoenecker and garden designer Dan Halsey. (Photo by Jennie Olson • Sun Newspapers)

By Jennie Olson - Sun Newspapers

Published: Thursday, April 7, 2011 2:31 PM CDT

When Apple Valley first began developing in 1963, almost every home had an apple tree in the backyard. Now, with more and more people hungering for gardening, a new organization is committed to growing food and growing community.

Growing Community is a collaboration of citizens and students who have debuted a new community garden at the School of Environmental Studies in Apple Valley called the Partnership Garden.

"People are already concerned about food," said Managing Director of The Partnership Garden Pat Schoenecker. "They know there are problems with health and that food travels a great distance to get to their plate, and they know something needs to change. We're helping to facilitate that change to show people that it's simple to grow gardens."

Growing Community is an umbrella organization formed last June in which volunteers periodically partner with the school to help with labor and fundraising.

Classes, volunteer opportunities and community activities are available throughout the year through Growing Community.

The Rosemont, Apple Valley and Eagan Community Education saw the garden and wanted to encourage gardening, so its offered Growing Community the chance to offer classes to the wider community through the Community Education catalog.

One such activity is an upcoming series called "Nourish to Flourish" beginning Thursday, April 14. The series offers four Thursday evenings of films, "how to" gardening instructions, and question-and-answer segments with community gardeners.

The series is co-sponsored by Valley Natural Foods of Burnsville, the School of Environmental Studies and District 196 Community Education and is open to everyone interested in gardening.

The first event will feature a 2010 PBS film called, "Nourish," showing ways that food connects to health, environment and communities. Gardeners Pam Farrell and Roxanne Beseman will speak about the first steps of planning a healthy, chemical-free garden. The evening will end with "The Story of the White House Garden," a short film featuring First Lady Michelle Obama and White House Chef Sam Kass.

The second event features "DIRT! The Movie," sharing worldwide stories of gardeners and farmers who have benefited from growing food. A panel of experts will follow the film, discussing how to effectively partner soil and the environment.

The April 28 event features SouthWoods Forest Gardens Owner Dan Halsey as he talks about how to transform a lawn into an edible landscape and how to choose the best crops and plants for the property.

The last event features representatives of community gardens and supportive organizations throughout Dakota County. Mini-documentaries "GROW" and "Homegrown Revolution" will also be shown, followed by a community forum and question-and-answer segment with regional organizers.

The series is free and open to all communities.

Partnership Garden

Planning for the Partnership Garden began last spring. Now, the real work is about to begin.

Local residents who live in multi-housing units or homes with yards that are not suitable for agriculture can use the garden as an outlet for their gardening hobbies and as a way to grow their own food.

The garden is intended to be a cross-cultural, intergenerational activity. Twenty percent of the garden's produce will be donated to local food shelves and individual families in need.

But because Growing Community and the Partnership Garden are still learning the most effective ways to garden communally, all of the plots this year are sponsor-leased, meaning that no spots will be available for community members. Volunteers are still needed for spreading wood chips, weeding, and attending classes, and Schoenecker said the garden's success would see it opened for all.

"We wanted to experiment to see how it goes with us before we expand to a broader turf," Schoenecker said, adding that they have a waiting list for community members who wish to be a part of the garden.

The Apple Valley community garden is different from other plots in that it's formed in a circle rather than a traditional grid. Each gardener will have his or her own circular plot and share the field and vine crops around the garden perimeter.

"We're finding that the circle garden minimizes the number of paths, which then optimizes the growing space available," Schoenecker said. "We can also have gardeners face each other, which forms a sense of community in the garden."

In an effort to keep the garden organic and free of pesticides, the Partnership Garden is using companion planting, where some plants attract certain bugs and other plants repel certain bugs.

"We're learning methods of making the harvest flourish without compromising the soil and without synthetic chemicals," Schoenecker said. "We have very experienced gardeners and we have some very inexperienced gardeners, so we're working together so people who are less familiar are being helped by those who are really familiar. It's a wonderful combination and I think that's a big part of the draw for our garden."

Growing Community and the Partnership Garden received a $2,000 grant from the Statewide Health Improvement Program to grow food this spring and summer. The grant was one of seven awarded to Dakota County community gardens through Dakota County Public Health and nonprofit partner Gardening Matters. The Partnership Garden will use the funds to purchase seeds and tools for this season.

"Food is a connector," Schoenecker said. "It connects people across cultures and across time. It brings us together in a form of celebration. We're growing food and growing community."

The School of Environmental Studies is located at 12155 Johnny Cake Ridge Rd., in Apple Valley. For more information about "Nourish to Flourish," visit district196.org/CE.

[SIDEBAR]

NOURISH: Plan Your Garden

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 14

School of Environmental Studies

12155 Johnny Cake Ridge Road

Apple Valley, MN 55124

DIRT! The Movie: Learn About Soil

6:30 to 8:30 pm

Thursday, April 21

Falcon Ridge Middle School, Lower Level Multi-Purpose Room

12900 Johnny Cake Ridge

Apple Valley, MN 55124

EDIBLE LANDSCAPES: Partnering with Nature

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 28

School of Environmental Studies

12155 Johnny Cake Ridge Road

Apple Valley, MN 55124

FLOURISH: GROW, Homegrown Revolution & Gardening Resources

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 5

School of Environmental Studies

12155 Johnny Cake Ridge Road

Apple Valley, MN 55124

http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2011/04/07/eagan/news/c207growingcommunity.txt