BY MICHELE MILLER
What’s What New Port Richey
Sept. 1, 2023
Mid-afternoon in mid-summer isn’t the best time to be out but the heat didn’t seem to bother the numerous butterflies that were flitting from one blossom to another at the community garden at Elsie Logan Memorial Park in Shady Hills
As is typical this time of year, most of the individual plots look pretty much done for save for the wieldy sweet potatoes, jalapeno peppers, Seminole pumpkins and colorful zinnia blossoms rising to meet the day above their sun-burnt stems. Faring a bit better in the communal bed were rows of yard-long wing beans, grapes and enduring loofah vines sporting elongated fruits that would be harvested for sponges – but not just yet.
Lining the outskirts of the garden’s orchard were signs of what was to come – blueberries, beauty peaches, honeybell oranges and Seminole pumpkins.
The Shady Hills Community Garden is one of a handful operating throughout the county and one a couple of good friends recently joined so they could garden with others on a plot that was already rich in nutrients courtesy of deliveries of herbivore fertilizer delivered by the truck load from ZooTampa.
Other community gardens are located at Ben J. Harrill Recreational Complex in Holiday, Heritage Park in Land O’Lakes, as well as sites in Dade City, Wesley Chapel and San Antonio.
There’s a strategy to Pasco County’s community garden program and it’s not just about what’s being planted in the plots, said Pasco County Extension Director, Dr. Whitney Elmore who oversees the program with Community Gardens Program Coordinator Chris Carreiro.
Gardens are purposefully placed in low-income areas as a way to address food insecurity while educating locals about the practice of growing their own food.
“A lot of community gardens are teaching spaces so typically we want them to be in underserved lower-income areas that are in or close to food deserts,” Elmore said. “From a nutritional point, we can help supplement what people put on the table.”
The level of instruction that is provided through the Master Gardener Volunteer Program is life-altering, she said.
“We have incredibly advanced horticulturists who train with us. They are out there to the community teaching people how to save water, save habitat, and do things in a Florida-friendly spectrum.”
There are presently some 82 certified Master Gardeners working in the community. Some give talks and workshops at local libraries, and recreation centers as well as the Extension Office in Dade City
They go anywhere and everywhere to all corners of this county to infiltrate and help where at all possible,” Elmore said, an essential service for those new to Florida. “They want to do things how they did back home and everything is flipped on its head here dealing with living things and being at the mercy of the environment.”
The plots are free for those who sign on, but there’s often a waiting list. Turns out a lot of people headed for the garden during the pandemic and the interest has not subsided.
There are good reasons for that, Elmore said, noting that the county was scoping out more sites based on demand and location.
“Number one – green spaces. We need them for well-being,” she said. “There are times that I just stop by the garden and there’s always visitors. People who are curious, walk through looking at the butterflies. It gives them a chance to slow down, spend a little more time with nature and explore what’s around them.”
And for some, learning how to work the soil gives them a way to rise above.
“These gardens are about empowerment more than anything,” Elmore said. “It’s about the education. About giving folks something that is nutritional and teaching them how to eat healthy on a budget. It’s about giving them something that is basic and critical to their well-being which is food.”
“But these gardens also can make a difference for folks who have lost a job or don’t make enough money to put something that is not processed on the dining room table. We have folks who are looking to grow a product in the garden that they can package and sell. Some folks who are gardening are living with homelessness. This gives them a level of control which is necessary to turn things around – where they can see hope. They come from all walks of life and all demographics. They come from all different avenues.”
“There is equality in the garden. The desire to grow and the desire to want to learn is something all humans share. This is a way to bring people together in a safe non-threatening environment.”
INFO
For information on the Pasco County Community Garden, The Pasco County Extension and Master Gardener Volunteer Program visit www.pascocountyfl.net/Program-Areas
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