Dig In At The South Kingstown Community Garden

If you've been hedging about growing some of your own food this year, a visit to the South Kingstown Community Garden might convince you to dig in. Besides helping you save money and eat more nutritiously, gardening lubricates winter-weary joints and assures that you get Vitamin D the way 'Mother' intended.

All Ages and Abilities

"For me it's just being able to grow food," enthused retired clergy Susan Stiles, a resident of Peace Dale Estates. This is Stiles' third season as loving steward of Plot #21 at the South Kingstown Community Garden.

The community garden is located adjacent to and is available for a nominal fee to all area residents.

"I take whatever is excess," Stiles continued, "and give it to Jonnycake [Center] or to the seniors. For them to have a tomato that's freshly grown..."

Stiles' words trailed off but the expression on her face spoke of the sheer joy that comes from sharing the literal fruits of one's labor.

"I have no sun in my yard - and no deer fence either," asserted Lisa Wright, Record Keeper for the South Kingstown Community Garden at Broad Rock. Although most people in South County have yards, others live in apartments, senior housing, or places not amenable to gardening, Wright explained.

Effortless...Or As Close As It Gets

Whether retired, middlin', or young (membership is equally divided among the three age groups), gardeners at the South Kingstown Community Garden realize they are blessed to be able to focus on their individual garden plots and not on the more arduous chores that backyard gardening usually entails.

For one thing, the community garden's infrastructure is already in place. There are wide pathways and an irrigation system as well as an eight-foot high deer fence - not to mention rabbit fencing that's buried 18 inches in the ground.

Tools and supplies are provided free. A local tree service donates mulch and Tasha Connor and her family offer free goat manure to community garden members.

The South Kingstown Community Garden at Broad Rock requires member gardeners to use natural, organic growing methods but provides some supplies free of charge. For example, the garden stocks Pyola® insect spray, a mixture of pyrethrins and canola oil. Soap-Shield®, a copper-based fungicide, is also available. At press time, the community garden was awaiting a shipment of parasitic wasps.

COMMUNITY Gardening

Many individuals donated their time and talent to establish the South Kingstown Community Garden at Broad Rock and you can read about them on the garden web site.

The garden also owes a debt of gratitude to the following companies, schools, and organizations:

• Liberty Rentals donated the use of a power auger to dig holes for the deer fence posts.
• New England Grassroots Environment Fund awarded funds for deer fencing.
• Rotary Club of Wakefield provided funds for the community garden shed and irrigation system.
•  students devote community service hours to the garden. In 2011 they built raised beds, transplanted shrubs, and mulched pathways.
•  provided the land for the garden and a source of water for the irrigation system.
• University of Rhode Island Master Gardeners donate seeds and seedlings to the community garden each spring.

First Come, First Served

Just a few plots remain available for the 2011 season. Lease fees are $45 for a regular plot (10' x 20') and $25 for a half plot (100 square feet). The lease fee is waived for clients of the Jonnycake Center of Peace Dale. The accompanying PDF includes an application for the South Kingstown Community Garden at Broad Rock.

All members agree to work four hours during the season for the garden's common upkeep. And all gardeners agree to donate some of their produce to for the Tuesday Pantry Express Farmers Market.

The photo gallery and video accompanying this article provide a virtual guided tour of the garden. The additional information provided in the captions can help you decide if gardening - whether at home or the South Kingstown Community Garden at Broad Rock - is right for you.

Download the movie