Harlowton’s community garden
Larry Steuben, owner of Snowy Mountain Trading Post, has generously provided the community of Harlowton with a plot of land to cultivate into a garden that will serve a diverse group of the town.
Through use of the local newspaper, word of mouth, posters on community bulletin boards, windows of local businesses and fliers distributed within neighborhoods, word is spreading about the Harlowton’s Community Garden. There will be weekly activities revolving around the garden throughout the summer, starting on Thursday, July 10 at 7:15pm. The theme of the first activity will be rhubarb, involving an educational piece on the dangers of ingesting the leaf, what rhubarb tastes like fresh from the garden and a number of ways to prepare rhubarb. A sampling of prepared recipes will be enjoyed by all that attend.
Groups and individuals have come forward to participate in the growth of the garden, such as H.A.P.Y. (Harlowton Advantage Program for Youth) who came to plant the garden with over 40 youth in attendance. Some of these children had never worked in a garden. Questions arise as the children see me in their neighborhoods; “are the plants growing yet?” or “when can we eat the tomatoes?” The concept of food growing out of the ground is new to many of Harlowton’s youth.
Senior citizens are enjoying participating in the community garden with such comments as: “we have moved to a home that has no space for a garden”, “we enjoy being outdoors and being useful” or something as simple as, “what a wonderful idea”.
Volunteers have come forward from all walks of life represented in Harlowton, especially those who have never volunteered before. I imagine the list of helpers will continue to grow as does the needs and care of the garden.
The garden is built around the idea of growing a community and what better place to grow a community than around a garden.
Please join in making Harlowton’s Community Garden a place where community grows together and learns!