Top Row Left to Right: Containers filled with vegetables at the Alva Wesleyan Food Pantry hope to grow an abundance of produce to supplement their monthly food donations. Dana Jordan, Beadles Nursing Home Administrator and nursing staff were excited to accept containers filled with plants from the Alva Community Garden, It will give their residents an opportunity to get outside for some fresh air to see them grow. Community Garden volunteer, Lisa Franz, has a bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes growing at her home in Alva. These tomatoes will bless the food pantry, blessing boxes or anyone who needs them this year. No garden space? No problem! Susan Holliday utilizes a sunny driveway for a container for tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon and herbs, as well as a butterfly container to attract pollinators. Bottom Row Left to Right: The Homestead Retirement Community's raised beds were filled with Alva Community Garden green beans, squash, basil, tomatoes and green peppers. Their residents are enjoying watering the plants and watching them grow. Kim Baugh utilized donated buckets to grow cucumbers, proving that fresh vegetables can be grown in the smallest of places. Dr. Janet Cunningham, Northwestern Oklahoma State University President, and grandson, Zane, are excited to grow some healthy vegetables to donate to the food pantry.
The Alva Community Garden started this spring in a rather unconventional way. The community garden, which will be located behind the Homestead Retirement Community, faced delays from weather, construction, and then the COVID-19 health crisis, making the site unready for planting in the early spring.
Faced with hundreds of healthy seedling plants ready to be planted with no place to plant, Alva Community Garden committee members started container gardens, which have been placed all over the city of Alva. The committee planted in containers of all shapes and sizes, from five-gallon buckets, mineral tubs, storage totes, and planters that were donated by community members. Plants were grown from seeds by volunteers in greenhouses located at Alva High School and at the NWOSU Ag Farm. The Alva Community Garden could not have gotten started this spring without the plants provided by these organizations.
Much of the proceeds from the community garden were intended to provide fresh vegetables to local organizations made possible by the generosity of sponsors. The container gardens were a temporary solution to continue that mission until the garden location was ready. These containers have been distributed to many different locations, including, but not limited to, the Alva Wesleyan Food Pantry, Beadles Nursing Home, The Homestead, NWOSU Campus Cabinet, the Woods County Courthouse, committee members' homes, and to several local volunteers.
The Alva Community Garden did become a reality this spring, albeit differently than was envisioned, and it is a true "community garden" through community partnerships and volunteers dedicated and willing to make the garden successful. It has been said that to plant a garden is to plant hope. In these trying times, the Alva Community Garden is providing hope for our community. Hope for organizations and individuals in need of fresh, nutritious vegetables, hope for those who want to give back to the community, and a symbol of hope that, despite it's slow beginnings, the Alva Community Garden is now a permanent fixture in the community to provide food, community partnerships and education.
If you are interested in more information about the Alva Community Garden or would like to make a donation, please email alvacommunitygarden@gmail.com.
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