Food Grower Resources Expand in Columbus Ohio
Franklin Park Conservatory Home to Community Gardening Association
Oct 1, 2009
The new Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Community Garden Campus is open at Franklin Park Conservatory and is sure to become a haven for community gardeners. The community garden campus includes demonstration gardens and indoor and outdoor learning spaces. The expanded number of rentable garden plots will provide more local gardeners with space to grow food.
In Columbus, Ohio, the number of community garden plots has grown to 150; so much that Bill Dawson, of Growing to Green, has dubbed this “the year of the church,” he explained to Suite101. Dawson thinks the increase has been the result, in part, of more and more local churches wanting to develop community gardens compared with past years.
Also new to the historic botanical garden is the American Community Gardening Association, who has moved its headquarters to the newly renovated caretaker’s house on the property. Called the Chase Community Garden Center, the building provides office space for Growing to Green and other community garden resources and programs.
Outdoor Classrooms for Food Growers
The seven-acre community garden campus has an extensive set of outdoor classrooms for food growers to utilize. Each is intermixed with gardens growing vegetable and fruit plants, herbs and other edible plants and ornamental vegetation.
The enabling garden and international culinary gardens inspire traditional growers to consider techniques and plants not used before. The nearby demonstration spaces are set side by side with other healthy lifestyle activities. The outdoor Serenity Garden of the Meuses has space for yoga and tai chi classes and the Pollinator’s Garden includes an apiary building where backyard gardeners see the possibilities of producing honey at home.
Every inch of garden space has been utilized to show effective garden strategies that can be incorporated into home gardens, thereby improving the lives and health of community residents. The Live Fire Cooking Theatre has a small shed to store equipment for cooking. However, the building also supports a green roof prototype planted with sedum visitors are able to see up close.
Another up-close model shows the mechanics of an attractively built grape arbor terrace providing, not only a demonstration, but also a shady place to rest. The parterre and potager garden spaces illustrate design possibilities for food growers also wanting ornamental plants fitted into their urban backyards.
Community Garden Training Program
Franklin Park Conservatory’s community garden campus offers community gardener training program classes geared towards all educators wanting to utilize the laboratory-like experiences of gardens. Classes can be taken separately or towards a certification in Community Gardening. The class tracks include:
- Horticulture – learning about growing plants with classes such as basic botany.
- Nutrition & Wellness – interested in improving and producing garden food for health augmented with hands-on cooking classes.
- Garden Leadership – initiating a green project focusing on general leadership skills.
- Sustainability & Green Practices – designing earth-friendly gardens positively impacting the local towns as well as the planet.
- School Gardens – using a garden for practical laboratory learning outside the classroom.
The Chase Community Gardener Training Program certification requires approximately 120 contact hours of education. Many of the individual classes offer continuing education credits. as well.
Growing to Green Garden Resources
At the start of 2009, many professional garden organizations predicted that, of all the types of gardening, growing vegetables would increase. In 2000, Franklin Park Conservatory’s long-range plans included expanding the Growing to Green program Bill Dawson had started. It was fortuitous that adding community garden plots and resources, like the American Community Gardening Association headquarters, culminated this year at a time when growing vegetables has become popular again.
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Community Garden Campus is an asset to Columbus Ohio and a long awaited goal of Franklin Park Conservatory. Incorporating demonstration gardens with resources like the American Community Gardening Association provides a bounty of garden knowledge food growers can put to good use.
Permission received for all photos used in this article.
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