Green thumbs in beloved garden
Morningside Community Garden sees residents connect with nature, stay active
NEW HAMBURG — It’s a mystical place where orioles, grosbeaks, and nuthatches flit in the trees and feast on grape jam. The preferred mode of transportation here is the golf cart. In among the trees and birds happy gardeners till the land and quibble over whose onions are the biggest.
This is the Morningside Retirement Community garden, a private plot managed and financed by the residents at the Homestead Place facility. The plot is divided into sixty 40-by-20-foot immaculate parcels staked out with garden twine, and there’s nary a weed between the rows of leafy lettuce and juicy beans.
It’s dotted with tractor-themed bird houses and folksy signs. A spring-fed waterline snakes throughout. The Homeowner’s Association organizes an annual chili lunch that pays for fertilizer and paid for the waterline. No one knows quite when the garden started. Robert Miller, a longtime resident, suggests the late ’80s. He has gardened here for 13 years. Miller scoots around the plot on his golf cart. It has two Canadian flags on the back and a jar of grape jam in the coffee holder.
“It’s good exercise,” Miller says. “It gets me out of the house.”
He points out the individual allotments and the annuals and the perennials sections on his garden map. He’s proud of what they’ve accomplished. The plots are free for residents of Morningside and together they till the annuals section of the plot in spring.
Jim Dobney has lived here for 29 years. He grows vegetables and his raspberries are enclosed in a wire cage to protect them from the birds. Dobney and Miller spend about an hour a day in the garden.
Jerri Thomas, a new resident to Morningside, scoots up in her golf cart with a couple of children in tow. She grows tomatoes and cucumbers. She’s very pleased to be a part of this thriving community of gardeners who share information and even tools, although most have their own.
Betty Johnston has been gardening here for 17 years. She leans on her hoe while she and Miller point out the largest plot managed by Hans Laurisden. He has more than 300 tomato plants and rows and rows of cabbage. Like many of the gardeners, he donates a lot of the vegetables he grows to the New Hamburg Thrift Centre where they are snapped up quickly because they’re fresh and sold for such a good price.
Studies show that in addition to providing fresh and affordable herbs, fruits and vegetables, community gardens also help relieve stress and increase a sense of wellness. They encourage an active, outdoor lifestyle, and give people an opportunity to share gardening tips. But most important, they build a sense of community and belonging and it’s that sense of shared pride and conviviality among Morningside’s gardeners that is the most impressive.