Community garden changes

Even with Cooper Elementary School closed, the community garden space that is shared by Cooper and its neighbor, the Mercy Clinic, seems to be quietly thriving.

Angela Rader, an employee at Mercy, has taken responsibility for the garden this year and changed a few things about its operation.

Since the fenced garden space was built in 2014, Cooper students have been involved. Some years they planted their own raised beds and some years they

just sampled the produce. The timing was always a problem when working with the school, Rader explained. If students planted the raised beds in the spring, they were not around when the beds needed care during the summer. When school resumed in the fall, there was a different set of students coming over for the harvest.

Rader started recruiting community volunteers to work through the summer and, this year, they also did the planting.

The garden is divided into raised beds of various sizes and heights. Volunteer Doris Hammeke explained that she shares a bed with another volunteer and they were able to plant whatever vegetable they wanted. When the vegetables are harvested, the volunteers bring home what they can use and the rest goes into the Mercy Free Little Pantry.

The pantry, located inside the vestibule of the clinic, will have a wide variety of vegetables this summer, Rader promised.

“We have cabbage, mini pumpkins, peas, a lot of strawberries, green beans, onions, okra,” Rader said. “We use the top shelf of the pantry. It was very successful last year.”

The volunteers usually work in very small groups to comply with social distancing even though they are outside, Rader said.

This year, Rader added some containers, including a former kiddie pool, and planted some vines along the chain-link fence. There may be room for more raised beds and she’s considering a workday to build them. She’s also working on a composting project outside the fence.

The volunteers keep in touch with a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ groups/bellavistacommunity garden. She monitors the page if someone wants to volunteer.

When school begins in the fall, Rader is hoping to bring the Cooper students over to see the garden and taste some of the produce.

“I want the children and the younger people to know. It’s easy and it’s fun and it’s rewarding,” she said. “The garden is for everyone.”

Lynn Atkins/The Weekly Vista The Community Garden shared by Mercy and Cooper Elementary School was planted by community volunteers this spring while the school was closed. When school resumes in the fall, students will be able to enjoy some of the harvest.