Community gardens feed hungry amid the pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many who were worried about shortages and interruptions in the supply chain stripped grocery store shelves of food items. But one resource in some communities rose to the occasion to meet the demands — community gardens.
“This year we got over 300 people in our gardens,” said Patrick Doyle, executive director of KNOX Hartford. “When we saw what was happening with COVID and looked at all of the things we do as an organization, we pretty quickly identified that our gardens were going to be really important this year.”
The nonprofit organization manages 20 community gardens throughout Hartford, providing fresh food for the community as well as spearheading initiatives such as its COVID-19 food security initiative.
“Our mission is really to bring everyone in Hartford together — that’s the residents, the business community, the city itself — to create a greener, stronger and healthier city,” Doyle said.
KNOX Hartford saw a 20 percent increase over the most people its had in the garden over the last 10 years, he said. The organization’s urban farming program was also able to sell over 3 tons of fresh food to schools this year.
“We know the schools play a huge role in distributing food to families in Hartford,” Doyle said, adding it was good to help the community in this way.
Other community gardens around the state saw a similar increase in use by residents this year.
“We saw a huge influx of people requesting plots this year,” said Eliza Caldwell, community gardens manager for Gather New Haven, which services many neighborhoods in the city.
While the garden provided a resource for some who were nervous about food security, it also provided an outlet for residents during the pandemic.
“That’s one of the benefits of having outdoor environments and spaces that still allow people to connect,” said Brent Peterkin, executive director of Gather New Haven. “The other thing is this satisfies an essential need.”
As the pandemic began to impact the state, residents put their energy into planting, and eventually harvesting, he said.
“During that period you have an opportunity to reap what you sow, and then you continue to reap what you sowed throughout the rest of the year,” Peterkin said.
But weathering the pandemic was only one challenge for the gardens. There was also a statewide drought due to the lack of rainfall this past summer.
“For us organizationally that was a particular challenge because we have the benefit for the most part that our gardens are irrigated,” Doyle said. “That said, we spent probably twice as much on water this year as we spent on water in our gardens last year.”
The sizable water bill led the Hartford organization to seek donations and support to continue its mission.
“Certainly, we’re not going to
tell people not to water their gardens in the middle of a drought,” he said. “But it has been challenging to figure out how we are going to make sure we cover these expenses, which we weren’t necessarily anticipating.”
Despite the lack of rainfall, it appeared to be an overall good year for the community gardeners, Doyle said.
“That said, if we were counting on only being able to use rain that we caught in rain barrels that would’ve fell from the
sky as a way to water our plants, it would not nearly be as successful a year for those gardeners,” he said.
Using paper mulch is one of many tactics that can help gardeners conserve water through a dry summer, according to Caldwell. Straws, leaves and grass clippings have also been known to be used as mulch.
While it’s unclear how climate change may have contributed to the drought, she said unpredictable weather provides challenging conditions for gardeners. The
arrival of hot weather too early in spring can damage lettuce, she said, and early cold can hurt beans and tomatoes.
“Every growing season brings challenges, but it’s my understanding that climate change throws more curve balls than the average growing season did in the past,” Caldwell said. “Regardless, people continue to plant and grow and still get abundant harvests. Resourceful gardeners always find a way.”