Garden of Eatin'
Edible gardening and its benefits
The cultivation of vegetables, fruits and herbs is a very popular component of gardening, with close to one third of households tending an "edible" garden. There are many obvious benefits of doing so. Edible gardening provides the opportunity to grow fresher, tastier and healthier produce than that typically offered at grocery stores. As with other types of gardening, time spent working in an edible garden offers physical exercise, pride of accomplishment, and a sense of renewal through creative expression and contact with nature. Also, fruit, vegetable and herb gardeners have the satisfaction of knowing that they are making a sustainable, positive impact environmentally. Produce grown and consumed locally saves a tremendous amount of energy over that grown in and transported from other states or countries. "Organic" gardeners utilize and model earth-friendly practices that promote soil fertility and avoid harmful pesticides and herbicides.
What are the objectives of the Garden of Eatin'?
The Garden of Eatin' will do more than simply address the interests of the many existing and aspiring vegetable, fruit and herb gardeners. It will also provide benefits to countless others of all ages and walks of life, as indicated by the following objectives:
- Demonstrate and educate types of produce that be grown in Northern Colorado and various methods of production
- Provide a "Seed to Table" experience for adult and youth programming
- Be a source of fresh produce for the Food Bank of Larimer County
-
To view the Garden of Eatin' design, please select the following link. Garden of Eatin' landscape plan (PDF 8.4MB)
What does it look like?
The Garden of Eatin' is located on the west side of the Gardens on Spring Creek, comprising an 3/4 acre triangle of land.
The Garden of Eatin' is far more than a garden of bountiful harvests. It contains several themed gardens such as: a potager garden; an international and continental United States garden; a pollinator garden; an herb garden; a sunflower and pumpkin garden plus large areas for program supported production.
These areas will include the following elements: raised beds, espaliered fruit trees, inter-mixed flowers and bulbs in containers, handsome vine-covered arbors, and comfortable benches. Coldframes and other "season extenders" will allow for an almost year-around harvest.
A central component of the Garden of Eatin' is the outdoor teaching kitchen. Housed under a beautiful pergola, the kitchen will have a large grill, several side burners, a refrigerator and sink. Ample counter space will allow for many different programs.
In order to complete this verbal imagery, we need to add the most important element of people to the description. From pre-schoolers to seniors, novice to expert gardener-and even non-gardeners-there will be something of value for virtually everyone in the Garden of Eatin'. Literally thousands of people will benefit from this garden, when considering visitors, school children on field trips, volunteers, interns, class attendees, Food Bank patrons and others.
|
|
