Tracy Gerber has always enjoyed gardening a variety of vegetables, but living in an apartment limited what she could grow.
She posted on the Nextdoor app four years ago looking for a community garden with land available near McHenry. That led to her connection with Judy Gottlieb, and now the two are co-leaders of the McHenry Township Community Garden, which has 20 raised beds where town residents can plant gardens. providing.
Brenda Dahlfors, master gardener and master naturalist program coordinator at the University of Illinois Extension Office, said community gardens are ideal for people who live in apartments or townhouses, have gardens that get too much shade, or who can grow their own crops. He said it is perfect for people who want to share their content with others. Located in McHenry County.
“Community gardening – the most important word is community,” Dahlfors said. “It’s an opportunity to socialize, it’s an opportunity to learn from each other, it’s an opportunity for people living in apartments to get outside, and it’s also an opportunity to supplement their food costs by becoming a member of a community garden.
“From a budget standpoint, it’s great to grow your own and reduce your food budget, so let’s do it.”
McHenry's community gardens aren't just beds in town. Over the winter, the City of McHenry installed eight raised bed gardens at the historic Petersen Farm at 4112 McCullom Lake Road, Parks and Recreation Director Bill Hobson said.
Mr Hobson said he had “heard several times over the past three or four years” requests for community gardens to be established in the city.
McHenry's new beds are 4 feet by 8 feet, 3.5 feet high, and each has running water.
“Let's see how it goes on the first run,” Hobson said. “We have the ability to expand, and we like that we're partnering with Petersen Farms to bring back the farming side of things there.”
The beds are higher than average to be a little easier on the knees and backs for gardeners and a little easier on pests.
Mr Hobson said: “This will keep our furry friends out of the ground as they could otherwise eat the young seedlings.”
He has not yet started advertising the availability of plots and is working out the details of how to reserve plots. Once the information is ready, it will be published on the city's website and the McHenry Parks and Recreation Department's Facebook page.
McHenry's soil comes from the Fox River Waterway Authority and is dredged and screened from the river.
“We use that rich black stain in other areas as well,” says Hobson.
Gerber said the town's garden bed was built in 2021 with the help of a grant Gottlieb secured from a hardware store.
Gerber said he received a grant for the soil, beds and everything there, including a garden shed adjacent to the property at 3515 N. Richmond Road in McHenry.
The bed was built next to FISH at the McHenry Food Pantry in an old unused bocce ball court. Gerber said the garden has a design called Hugelcultur, which involves placing branches, leaves and wood chips under a soil-mushroom mix to improve drainage and create rich soil. Each year thereafter, new bags of garden soil and mushroom compost are placed on top of his 20 planting beds.
There are a total of 20 beds on the town site, but only 10 are currently in use. Gerber encourages interested parties to inquire through the town's website. Unlike other beds in the county, there is no rental fee for these beds, but you must fill out an application and commit to caring for the beds and plants as well.
“We are required to water and weed the property,” Gerber said, and are required to volunteer four-hour shifts on two of the scheduled work days. Told.
There will also be sharing of gardening tools and produce, but everyone is expected to bring their own plants, whether they were sown at home or purchased from a nursery, she said.
Gerber buys plants from nurseries.
“I tried to sow the seeds myself at home. It was an epic failure,” she said.
There's a joke that growing your own tomatoes can be expensive.
“There's an old book called 'The $64 Tomato,'” Dahlfors said.
But growing your own vegetables doesn't have to be expensive.
“If you know how to save seeds, you only need to buy a bag of those seeds once.”
She encourages people using community gardens to share seeds with their neighbors.
“A 99-cent bag of cucumber seeds contains 12 seeds…a family of four doesn't need 12 cucumber vines unless you're going to pickle them,” Dalfors says.
Some plants may come back year after year or reseed themselves. Gerber said McHenry Township Gardens discourages such activity because if the tenant doesn't return, someone else may have to clean up the garden.
For those who are a little apprehensive about trying their hand at gardening, Dahlfors said learning from others is part of the fun of community gardening.
“Community gardens are community-focused,” she said.
Dahlfors said you can also ask the master gardener questions by calling the extension office at 815-338-3737 or by visiting the Woodstock office at 1102 McConnell Road. Messages can also be sent through his website extension.illinois.edu/lm/contact.
