Purdue Extension: Growing communities one garden at a time
“We reached out to Purdue Extension because we knew they have helped with other community organizations and have lots of knowledge about community gardens.
By Abby Leeds
Purdue University
Sept 11, 2020
Excerpt:
Shoaf and Alford connected Lewis and Barbour with resources to help start the community garden, including Purdue Extension’s guide to starting a community garden in Indianapolis.
“We met a few times and I talked them through the bare bones of how to establish a community garden and encouraged them to have a strong team behind the garden. It’s important to have a strong team of leaders for a community garden to be successful,” said Alford.
Barbour and Lewis admit their limited knowledge of gardening and community gardening planning.
“We walked in without knowing anything. Nathan and Brooke provided a ton of resources and taught us how to build the raised beds, mix compost, conducted soil testing, and walked us through planting guides, among many other things. Brooke even helped us install our water irrigation system. We would not have been able to start this without them and I mean that genuinely,” said Barbour. “We are so thankful to have the tools and long-term sustainable resources now.”