The Giving Gardens announced the opening of nine public access gardens in McDonough County. Public access gardens are locations where the public is invited to harvest vegetables, herbs, flowers and berries at no cost.
John Curtis, founder and executive director of the Giving Gardens explains: “The mission of the Giving Gardens is to strengthen communities by providing access to gardens in every neighborhood. We think there is something special about spending time in gardens and being able to see, touch, smell and taste real food right at its source. When we see the wonder in a child’s eyes when she eats her first raspberry or Sungold Cherry tomato right off the vine, we know that something transformational is happening.”
The Giving Gardens has greatly expanded both the number and the size of their public access gardens this year with new garden space at their two Macomb school locations at Project Insight (on the corner of West Adams and North Johnson) and at Lincoln School (between the parking lot and the ball diamonds). They have also added entirely new locations at the Wesley Student Center on University Drive near the WIU campus as well as new locations in Colchester and Bushnell.
“Our goal is to have public access gardens in every neighborhood in every town. So, we were very excited to create new gardens in Colchester and Bushnell this year.” said Curtis. “Each new garden requires land and a readily accessed water source. So it has been key to partner with local businesses, churches, schools and local governments. Now that people have a better understanding of what we’re doing, they’re showing a lot of interest in getting these gardens in their own neighborhoods.”
Another key factor in the success of The Giving Gardens is their growing volunteer base. “We couldn’t manage nine public access gardens, our large production garden and solar houses and do all of the other things that we do in the community without a deeply committed and growing number of volunteers. This summer we’ve worked closely with several teams of volunteers who help us manage individual gardens.”
In July, the gardens start to come into full production with peppers, tomatoes, green beans and other crops ready to harvest. There are also herbs such as parsley, cilantro and basil and flowers available for cutting. Curtis believes flowers are an integral part of the gardens, “Fresh cut flowers add so much to an indoor space, but purchasing flowers is out of the budget for many people. We add specialty cut flowers to every garden so that anyone can add some color from the garden into their own home.”
Curtis says that for the Giving Gardens, the future includes growth and abundance. “We have everything we need to have large public access gardens in every neighborhood in every city and small town. We are blessed with land, excellent soils and ample water resources in this part of the world. We have local people who want to help others in their community. We just need to bring those assets together to make our world a greener, more abundant, and more hopeful place.”
People interested in learning more about the Giving Gardens or interested in finding nearby public access gardens can go to the Giving Gardens website at givinggardensforall. com or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or YouTube at givinggardensforall.
