(Posted March 22, 2018)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
Itching to get your hands in the dirt but don’t have space of your own for a garden?
Consider signing up for a plot at the Community Gardens located in Cowling Park at the corner of Park and Walnut streets in London. Twenty 10×18-foot garden plots are available for just $10 each for this year’s growing season.
Registration forms are available at the city administration office, 6 E. Second St., and at the Ohio State University Extension Office-Madison County, 217 Elm St. All registrations and payments must be returned to the city administration office. Plots are rented on a first come, first served basis.
A kickoff is planned for 1 p.m. April 22, Earth Day. That day and throughout the growing season, Extension representatives and other volunteers will offer a variety of how-to classes.
Mary Griffith, Extension agriculture and natural resources educator, Master Gardeners, and local farmer and volunteer Chris Kennedy will provide information on everything from when and how to start a garden to how to mulch, weed and water, what to do to keep pests away, and options in the way of natural fertilizers. Deetra Huntington, SNAP-Ed program assistant, will provide nutrition information, such as how to prepare meals using fresh veggies.
Organizers plan to lend out basic gardening tools, like shovels and rakes, to those who rent garden plots. The tools will be kept at the city pool, located across the street from the community gardens, and will be accessible from noon to 8 p.m. every day.
Scholarships are available to individuals who cannot afford the $10 to rent a plot. Scholarship applications are available through the SNAP-Ed program. Applicants must in turn enter some of their garden produce in the open class horticulture class at this year’s Madison County Fair.
For more information on renting a garden plot, call the Extension office at (740) 852-0975 or the city administration office at 852-3243. For scholarship information, call 852-0975.
