Worland Community Garden sprouts anew

WORLAND - After eight years the Worland Community Garden is taking a new direction in hopes of becoming sustainable long-term.

During a community garden membership meeting at the Washakie Museum & Cultural Center information about the potential expansion, a new board and membership program were outlined.

"It's been a really wonderful project," Washakie County Extension Educator Caitlin Youngquist said of the garden that began in 2015. The focus was to provide fresh produce to the residents of Washakie County and then also to help build strong community network. We've done a lot of educational programs through the years, community outreach, primarily now we grow food to share," Youngquist said.

Youngquist said the community garden grows about 3,000 to 4,000 pounds or produce annually. "If we were able to increase efficiency and have more help, we could easily double that," she said.

"The garden is a great opportunity to continue feeding our neighbors, continue growing fresh produce and also continue building strong community networks," she said.

With staff burn out, limited volunteers and Youngquist needing to take a step back to focus on other Extension duties, they have transitioned operation of the garden to an independent non-profit organization with a dedicated board of directors. This will bring the garden out from the umbrella of Washakie County Extension, Youngquist said.

Current board members are President Janet Hofmann; Angela Michel, Dorothy Richard, Ivy Asay, Stevie Kowalczyk, LaDonna Miller, Janet Benson, Susan Pennington, Laura Muse, Heather Trauntvein.

"When I said I had to pull back from the garden and it needed to transition to be a more sustainable organization They caught it and ran with it, that's a benefit to the community. I have huge faith that going forward it will continue to grow," Youngquist said.

Younquist said they are "selling" garden memberships with two different levels, sprout and sunflower. The biggest benefit of the membership is "knowing you are supporting good work in the community," Youngquist said.

She added, "We are still building it out. This is still a baby organization."

In looking to the future Hofmann said the board is looking into the opportunity for expansion to the area just north of the garden but still within Newell Sargent Park. It is space that is not utilized by the city. The board has received a $5,000 grant for fencing for the expansion and are working on another grant for labor of installing the fence. They are looking for committee members to help with the expansion.

The biggest project is the membership drive right now, because, Hofmann said, "we cannot run a garden on just volunteers. We have to have some paid staff. We need a garden manager."

They are looking at someone working three hours a day, five days a week when the garden is open. She said if they sell 350 of the sprout memberships they could fund the garden manager position.

Folks can pick up the membership forms either at the County Extension Office or the Conservation District.  We'll try to get a link on the Garden Facebook page too.  Checks can be made to the Worland Community Garden. As far as being tax deductible people will need to consult their tax professional.  We are recognized as a non-profit in the State of Wyoming and are in the process of confirming our 501C3 status.

She said the board will continue to work with Extension. The Extension will still be involved as a point of food collection and distribution and for planting sprouts. 

They will be working with the Washakie County Conservation District for additional educational programs, as well as 4-H and Wyoming Boys School.

Until they are able to fund a paid manager, Hofmann said they will be using the AmeriCorps Program this year for some of the staffing hours.  There are limitations to this program as the hourly wage ends up being only about  $8 per hour and the board has to pay a small fee for management of the AmeriCorps program.

"Last year we did not have any stipends available to us through AmeriCorps which put a real strain on the volunteers who were burnt out by the end of the season," Hofmann said.

They have already hired Ivy Asay as the garden manager and Laura Muse as a six- to nine-hour a week staffer. 

"Their positions, for at least some hours will be paid for through AmeriCorps.  Both are currently volunteering with the garden and are being gracious at accepting such low wages. We're kind of moving forward on a wing and a prayer that we'll come up with more funds to run the garden this year and into the future," Hofmann said. 

Kiwanis sponsors two to three youth who commit to work 25 hours and receive a stipend of $200.  We are still looking for two youth to fill those positions.  The youth workers will work under the direction of the garden manager.

People can sponsor a row and the garden accepts donations of straw or old hay that is used to cover the soil and aids in the no-till practice.

The board will continue the annual garage sale where people can donate their unwanted items anytime by dropping them off outside Garage Door Bay 2 located at 217 Lawson (Young's Camper Repair). This is a new drop off location and will also be the location of the sale, Hofmann said.

Items can be dropped off beginning March 15 and continue through the year.

"When we run the sale we don't price things, we just let people choose the amount they want to donate for the items they pick up.  It's been a great event for us and will continue to grow as we implement more ideas regarding the sale," she said.

"We welcome new volunteers and organizations that might want to use the garden or have a tour.  There is currently no charge for those things," she added.

HISTORY

The garden at Newell Sargent Park began in 2015 when Washakie County Extension Educator Caitlin Youngquist was approached by Rick Dunne to take over the property as a garden. She approached the City of Worland and they agreed.

Historically the garden and the Extension Office have relied heavily on the AmeriCorps program and a few other volunteers over the years.

Those who have received food over the years include The Lighthouse, Big Horn Enterprises, O.W.L. Unlimited, Worland Senior Center, Washakie Ministerial Association Food Pantry, Commodities program, Crisis Prevention and Response Center, Absaroka Head Start, Worland Youth Learning Center and individuals and families.

Community outreach has included developing new gardens at Willow Creek Assisted Living, Worland Healthcare and Rehabilitation, Wyoming Boys School, West Side Elementary and Worland Youth Learning Center.

AmeriCorps volunteers also assisted with the Mobile Food Pantry and hosting educational events.

In the first year, Youngquist said they grew tomato plants and the second year they added pumpkins to fill a lot of space.

They have added raised beds, a new-to-the-garden shed donated by the Worland landfill, and added an awning to it which provided better workspace with shade.

They have a grow light in the Extension Office to start some plants before planting them in the garden.

A geodesic dome was constructed to extend the growing season. The 2022 summer was the first summer to have the dome the entire season. Peppers, tomatoes and eggplants were grown in the dome this year.

The garden has also moved from a flood system to a dripline irrigation system.

Community garden supporters have been Extension, Kiwanis, Rotary, Pinnacle Bank Festival of Trees, Wyoming Hunger Initiative and Worland Garden Club. In addition to those supporters, 11 organizations, businesses and individuals have sponsored a row to help fund the garden.

The program also is making a difference statewide.

Youngquist said they started a bag program and would distribute the bags to different organizations such as Crisis Prevention and Response and Department of Family Services. Those personnel would give bags to people and a person could then come to the garden during open hours and harvest what they wanted. The program was so successful program that it inspired the Wyoming Hunger Initiative Grow A Little Extra program which had its second year statewide in encouraging home gardeners to grow extra. This year the Grow A Little Extra program in Washakie County brought in another 2,000 pounds of produce.

The garden has also hosted numerous educational and fun events each year.