Explore Marshfield – Community Gardens
Marshfield residents of all ages can enjoy the health benefits, as well as the experience, of planting their own produce- thanks to Marshfield Community Gardens.“The Community Gardens are so important because they offer a space for people to garden who may otherwise not be able to,” said Jordyn Quast, Community Garden Coordinator. “The gardens also help oster a sense of unity within the community and provide a family-friendly place for people to learn and develop new skills.”
She added that anyone is able to help with the garden workdays. “Families are encouraged to come and work together,” she said, adding that for those with physical limitations, there are four raised gardens that are handicap accessible.. “We encourage anyone who is interested in helping the gardens to contact us about our opportunities.”In her role as coordinator, Quast works to educate the community on the benefits gardening can have for a person’s physical, emotional, and nutritional health. She also helps organize registration and maintenance of the three Marshfield Clinic and Healthy Lifestyles-Marshfield Area Healthy Lifestyles Coalition, Marshfield Clinic Growing Together Community Garden sites which have a total of 80 beds.
Returning again this year, young people have even more opportunities to get involved through the “Garden Buds” program.
A program of an after-school club at Marshfield Clinic Youth Net, Garden Buds gives students the opportunity to plant, grow, harvest, and serve produce to themselves and their classmates. The program is possible through a partnership between Marshfield Clinic and Healthy Lifestyles-Marshfield Area Coalition, with support from the Community Garden committee, AmeriCorps, Marshfield Clinic Youth Net, and community members.“This is our second year of Garden Buds and we are hoping to produce enough food to provide snacks for all of the children who attend Marshfield Clinic Youth Net, Said Quast. “We also hope to harvest so much food that there is extra to be taken home to the families of Marshfield Clinic Youth Net kids.”
Volunteer tasks for Garden Buds would include helping the students plant, water, weed, and harvest produce on Wednesdays from 4:45-5:30 now through May (subject to change in June and July). Whether able to commit for the duration of the program or just one day at a time, volunteer Youth Garden Mentors are needed to help teach kids the joy of gardening and growing their own food.
Those interested can also get involved in other ways, such as by registering for a garden bed, volunteering, sponsoring a garden bench, and/or making monetary donations.
“May is busy for us and we use a lot of volunteers to help with garden tasks such as spreading mulch, weeding, youth garden mentoring and garden bed reconstruction,” said Quast
Volunteer sign up here:
Garden Buds sign up here:
For more information, contact Marshfield Clinic Center for Community outreach at 715-221-8400 or [email protected]. Visit volunteermarshfield.org for volunteering information.
