The Community Growers of Montgomery County invite you to come to its Garden Walk, from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. There is no charge to attend.
The Garden Walk is an opportunity to connect and share ideas with other growers and showcases that no matter how much space or time you have, you can grow your own thriving garden and food.
The walk begins at 10 a.m. at the Wabash Prairie Garden on the southeast corner of Russell Avenue and Milligan Street, there is ample parking in the lot on the north side of Milligan Street. Organizers will have a table with resources and seed handouts as well as water, but participants are encouraged to bring their own bottles, a chair if needed, and a friend.
From here participants will see last year’s planting of the prairie and how it is progressing into its second growing season. The prairie has grown explosively this year with blooms. Native blooms like these are vital to pollinators and are resilient through the heat and storms experienced this year. If you are interested in adding natives to your own beds, this is a great opportunity to ask some experts.
The second stop on the tour is a short walk over to Kathy Walker’s garden. Walker is a member of Community Growers and has cultivated her yard into a mixture of beautiful flowers and vegetables. She utilizes her side fence for growing beans and her porch for other vining veggies like cucumbers and summer squash, all perfectly nestled into her flower beds. In her raised beds and containers, she grows tomatoes, eggplants and peppers and utilizes her lawn clippings for mulch.
Finally, a couple doors down we will visit Alex Thompson’s garden. Thompson grows an eclectic mix of veggies, from giant pumpkins to Gogi berries and popcorn. Her garden serves as an experimentation space for her kids to learn gardening skills. The star of the show is her native beds. Thompson describes her yard as “maintained wildness” and fits the cottage garden aesthetic to a tee. The insects and pollinators attracted to her yard are a constant source of fascination and there is always something new to encounter, even in the middle of town.
To find out more, check out the Montgomery County Soil and Water Conservation District Facebook page and make a reservation. Reservations are preferred but not required.
For more information or questions, contact Sam Lovold by email at programs@montgomerycoswcd.com or call us at 765-362-0405, ext. 2666.
