Our Children’s Rainbow Garden
A community garden project for children and adults
Dauphin County Parks and Recreation Community Garden
Plots # 23, 25, 27 & 29
Elmerton Ave and State Farm Road, Harrisburg, PA.
Plots # 23, 25, 27 & 29
Elmerton Ave and State Farm Road, Harrisburg, PA.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q)
Who are the people that planned this project?
A)
We are your neighbors, members of the Central PA community, and people just
like you that have an interest in helping children develop healthy, sustainable
and conscious lifestyles. We are not an established non-profit or religious
organization; however, we offer the public the opportunity to participate in
the garden project and to attend garden events and classes free of charge. We
do gratefully accept any donations offered to us. In fact, all of the supplies
for the garden have been donated including seeds, plants, compost, mulch, and
tools. Girl Scout Troops #991 & #1001 from the
Girls Scouts in the Heart of PA Council donated hand crafted stepping stones
for each garden, Hershey Nursery donated 50 bags of cocoa mulch and Dig My
Earth donated many truckloads of nutrient-rich compost.
In addition, Dauphin county Parks and Recreation has for many
years provided the Community Garden space along Elmerton Avenue in Harrisburg
for public use. We rented four plots, each 50x50 sq. ft. and received a great
selection of seeds with the rental for only $10 per plot for the entire season!
Q) How did you come up
with the idea for the garden project and when did you start?
A) During the snowy winter of 2009 a group of friends began
talking about our growing concern with the quality and cost of food available
to the average family especially with the current state of the economy. We
eventually started talking about the emerging trend of growing our own food
because it’s local, sustainable, fresh, and by comparison is inexpensive to
produce. As the discussion progressed, we created the vision of a local
community garden focused on cultivating the potential of children by inspiring
them to play and work in and eat from the garden. Since most children lose
interest if you tell them about vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients (most
adults too!) we decided we should simply teach them the “new” healthy food
groups and encourage them to eat a rainbow of color everyday for good health.
It was then that we realized the Children’s Rainbow Garden was born. We soon
discovered that the garden project had the potential to build community, educate
children, support families, and could also support local non-profits in their
mission to help underserved individuals and families gain access to affordable,
quality food.
The point of no return was when one member of our group said
“So, is it time for us to actually do this or are we just going to continue to
talk about it? Should we be the change we want to see in the world?” We all
said, “YES, now how do we do this?” and by spring we had the garden plan laid
out, seeds sprouting in our windows and all had agreed we would enjoy this
adventure for at least the summer of 2010.
Q) I’m interested in
what you are doing, but I have no gardening experience and limited time. Is
there any way I can get involved?
A) This garden is perfect for you! Most community gardens
segment their gardening space into plots that are rented to individuals to
garden on their own which requires gardening knowledge, tools, and lots of
time.
The Children’s Rainbow Garden is segmented into three uniquely
patterned spaces, each with their own theme and purpose. The entire garden is
cultivated and cared for by all members of the garden project including
volunteers and all produce is shared. With this approach, it does not require a
significant amount of time, expertise, or effort from any one individual,
although it does require a small and consistent commitment of time from all of
us. Our most experienced gardeners lay out the gardening tasks for each week to
keep us on track.
The garden is open for community gardening on Wednesdays from
6pm to dusk and Saturdays form 8am to 11am. Participating members are not
required to attend every time and are only asked to contribute a few consistent
hours each week to the garden’s care. In addition, individual members volunteer
to drop in to the garden on a specific day of the week to water, harvest, or do
whatever tasks are needed. Some of us have lots of gardening expertise and some
have none, but we teach each other and all are learning from the experience. We
share the produce grown and we have a commitment to donate a portion of our
produce to local non-profit organizations or generally to people in need of
access to fresh food and a healthy lifestyle.
Q) Where do you donate your produce?
A) This summer, we will donate on a weekly basis to Channels
Food Rescue a local non-profit organization serving the Harrisburg area. They
have a social mission to alleviate the problem of hunger through a
three-program approach of food delivery to specific organizations and families
in need, a job skills program through their culinary school and catering
services, and their kids café that provides meals and nutrition education to
after school and summer school programs.
We will also donate fresh produce to the Harrisburg YWCA Women’s
shelters because we have learned that although these women receive many
services, they are required to provide their own food.
When we think about donating to help others, we typically think
that money is the best or only option. It’s clear to us that although money is very
helpful to many organizations, we don’t have to have much to make a difference
in the lives of others. The produce we are donating ranges from $.69 to $3.99 per
lb. at the grocery store. As the garden ramps up into August and September, we
expect to be donating between 20-40 lbs of produce each week so that’ a nice
weekly contribution. Over the course of the summer and fall it also becomes a
nice cost savings for the organizations and individuals supported.
Q) How can I join the garden project and does it cost anything?
A) Anyone can join the project at any time this season and at no
cost; however, we do ask for a small commitment of a few hours on average each
week (with flexibility for individual schedules, vacations, etc.) We will be
gardening into late October.
Q) I recently learned that you had a Fairy Festival for children
in the garden. How can I find out about your scheduled events and classes?
A) Just subscribe to our blog www.childrensrainbowgarden.blogspot.com or become a friend or fan of Our Children’s Rainbow
Garden on Facebook to keep up with our events and our progress. You can also check out the "Events" tab at the top of the blog or click here to go there directly.
It’s important to note that our weekly community gardening times
are our most featured event. We encourage children and their families to join
us during these times to explore our unique garden setting and to participate
as we laugh, learn, and enjoy garden “tastings” on a regular basis.
The garden is beautiful, the view of the surrounding area is
breath taking, and the sunsets in the garden should not be missed.
Please feel free to join us or contact us by email phone or snail mail. We'd love to hear from you!
Our contact info:
email: childrensrainbowgarden@gmail.com
phone: 717-921-2599 (Marykaye)
mailing address: Marykaye Flatley at 1720 Towpath Rd., Dauphin, Pa 17018
Thanks!
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Here is a copy of an article on the garden from the Patriot News in August 2011
Click here to view the article as it appeared online
Here is a "cut-and-paste" copy of a recent local news article about the garden.
You can click on the picture to enlarge it and read! (Sorry for the rough version!).
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