Experience, education goals of community garden
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RONAN – Zucchini, broccoli and carrots are just a few of the healthy options that locals will be able to grow in Ronan’s new community garden next to K. William Harvey School. The patch will be used as an educational ground for students and a place for locals to plant their crop of choice.
"There are a couple goals for the garden. One is to connect kids to healthy foods and help them understand where there food comes from,” FoodCorp Service Member Laura Arvidson said. "Our other goal is to create an outdoor classroom so we can have hands on experience. This will help the kids grasp the concept.”
Arvidson has been teaching nutrition and cooking with the students since September. She also helps get healthy foods onto kids’ lunch trays by finding local farmers to donate a fresh and hardy option.
“We live in prime agricultural region of Montana and while healthy vegetables and fruits are being grown and sold in our region, very little ends up on the shelves of the local grocery store or on our children’s lunch trays,” Dean of Students and FoodCorp Supervisor Carey Swanberg said.
Having the garden will be just one more source for those healthy options, according to Swanberg.
“We want all kids in our community to connect with real foods and grow up healthy,” Swanberg said.
As for the community, there will be four plots available in exchange for supervision and maintenance of the garden.
Funding for the garden came in the form of grants from Friends of the Regional Parks and Trails, Lower Flathead Valley Community Foundations, Whole Kids Foundation and St. Luke’s Hospital. Other contributions from Ronan PTA and Kickstart Compost also helped create this outdoor classroom.
On May 23, Ronan resident Gale Decker brought his tractor and was joined by Valley Bank employees, FoodCorp members, Youth With a Mission and Kickstart Compost to start the construction of the garden.
“We had so much support from the community,” Swanberg said. “This wouldn’t have been possible without the ones who donated their time.”
Arvidson is excited to get the kids outside and involved before the end of the school year.
“We would like to plant things that can be harvested during school next fall,” Arvidson said.
Community members can contact Carey Swanberg if they would like to have a plot and be a supervisor of the garden.
