Residents Can Get Involved Through “Work and Learn” Sessions
Trevor Phipps
Many experts say that food is most healthy when consumers can obtain it closer to where it is produced.
Even though the climate in the high country makes growing a garden difficult, the city of Woodland Park, in a rare, unprecedented move, has partnered up with the local non-profit Community Partnership organization to provide a public garden for the region.
The garden started earlier this year when several volunteers imported soil into raised and covered garden beds on a lawn located just west of the Woodland Park City Hall. The plants grew all summer long. The city then welcomed the public during a community garden open house event on Sept. 11.
The city waited to offer the event until the plants were in full bloom, and before everything gets harvested and then is taken down for the winter. Visitors got to see all of the garden beds, fully adorned with plants that had been growing since last spring.
Those attending the event were given free “City of Woodland Park” t-shirts along with other goodies. The open house not only served as an event to showcase what has been grown inside the garden all season, but also to show off things that were made with plants grown inside the facility.
Free seed packets of flowers, vegetables and herbs were given away at the event. Visitors also got to choose a bunch of fresh herbs or mints to take home with them.
The event had a table where food and beverages, made from produce and herbs in the garden, were available for taste. Visitors also could sample two different herbal teas that were made from ingredients grown in the community garden.
Also given out to the public were chips and salsa samples made from the designated salsa beds in the garden. Volunteers also used a portable pizza oven to serve pizza made with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden. Samples of home-grown zucchini bread were also made available.
Along with samples, visitors were encouraged to join the volunteers and help out with the garden while learning at the same time. Every Tuesday and Thursday, the community garden located next to city hall is open for work and learn sessions where a master gardener is available.
Volunteers are needed to help maintain the garden, but the master gardener is also there for individual tips of advice. While tending the community garden, helpers can ask the master gardener questions about their own gardens. The master gardener is also willing to help with specific issues people are having with their home gardens.
Along with the chance to attend work and learn sessions, the community garden also plans to offer the chance for residents to rent their own garden beds and grow whatever they would like.
Project Represents an Unprecedented Partnership
Community Partnership’s (CP) community garden first started in 2012 through a shared vision by the late Lee Willoughby, a dedicated advocate for sustainability and community engagement. The event in September welcomed the public to the community garden’s new location at city hall for the first time.
“This new location marks an exciting new chapter for our garden program,” Jodi Mijares, President & CEO of CP said in a press release. “It’s more than just plants, it’s about people, families, and community growth in every sense of the word. We are incredibly grateful to the city of Woodland Park and our partners for helping us create a visible, accessible, and welcoming space right in the heart of town.”
The garden has grown over the years and its new location gives it more of a convenient location for residents in the heart of downtown Woodland Park. “Community gardens are more than beautiful green spaces,” Mijares added. “They build social connections, promote food security, provide hands-on education, and foster wellness. And this is just the beginning, we envision the garden as a hub for sustainability, education, and connection for years to come.”
Last summer, the new version of the community garden includes 35 new galvanized steel garden beds, a greenhouse, themed gardens, pollinator plantings, demonstration gardens, interactive sensory gardens, and a dedicated food pantry garden bed. Over the summer there have been more than 30 community members taking some role in helping out with the effort
According to CP’s Vice President of Programs Cory Gorton, the garden that is now in full bloom came about after a decent amount of hard work conducted by community volunteers. “In the 35 raised beds, we filled them with 58 tons of soil which was a lot and literal back-breaking work, but it was fun,” Gorton told the Woodland Park City Council during their first meeting in September. “We filled those beds with somewhere between 500 and 700 plants. So, there is a lot growing out there and most of it was donated by some partners and local nurseries in our community and in Colorado Springs.”
In addition, CP will also offer cooking classes this fall to teach people to make meals with what they have grown. Those who are interested in renting a garden bed next season are asked to inquire during one of their “work and learn” sessions that take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
