Warm weather is bringing a new season of activities at the Summit County Community Gardens. The organizers will also be adapting their programs to the Covid season.
The Community Gardens, off Highway 224 and Old Ranch Road by Matt Knoop Park, will have its opening week on May 18th to the 22nd. With the slogan, “Gather, Learn, Grow” programmers aim to teach locals how to begin and maintain a garden at this altitude.
The Gardens’ Executive Director, Sloane Johnson, said they expanded the gardening spaces for this year. They have 132 plots and already, they’re all taken, with a waiting list on hand.
She said locals can come to the Gardens anytime, but they’re asking to maintain social distancing.
“There are different pods at the gardens. So we’re having one person per pod coming to the garden at a time to get their garden started. And we’ll have a sign-up for that. We are asking if you come into the garden and the person in the plot next to you is working in the garden, we have lots of volunteer jobs. So if you want to mulch or do something while you’re waiting for that person to get out of their plot so that you can have your own space, you can do that, or just come back later. We don’t want people working right next to each other.”
The charge for a plot is $95 per year.
Summer camps are being organized, but in groups smaller than the COVID limit of 20 people. Johnson said they’ll be doing camps in partnership with the Kimball Art Center, EATS and Recycle Utah.
Their other activities include the Garden Bounty Program, which will donate fresh produce to the Christian Center. Johnson said their goal this year is to amass 1500 pounds.
In addition, the Rocks of Hope project invites locals to paint a positive message on a rock. They will be placed around the children’s garden.
Finally, Johnson said they’re also offering a Pollinator Class.
“We talk about different flowers that you can plant in your garden that help support the pollinators, the bees, the butterflies, and why we need the plant pollinators in our gardens, and how we can help sustain our ecosystem by using pollinators in our gardens.”
Sloane Johnson. To get involved, go online to “summitcomunitygardens.com."
