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| May 05, 2024 |
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General News: Growing a Community Garden in Mountainville
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| Deke Hazirjian created the garden where he grows vegetables for his restaurant, Woody's. |
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| Barbara Zohar and Jan Johnson work their plots in the morning. |
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| New Windsor police chief Mike Biasotti and his wife, Barbara, water their plants in the evening. |
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| Art Williams and Virginia Gordon with wire cages for tomato plants. |
June 13, 2008
Deke Hazirjian and farmer Guy Jones share a vision of a sustainable lifestyle that enriches the earth and a sense of community at the same time.
These may sound like lofty ideals, but their plan is realistic, starting with a small rectangle of land on Otterkill Road in Mountainville, where they are offering people the chance to grow their own food. On a recent morning, four people were in the garden, tending their plots of squash, tomatoes, cucumbers – although together more than two dozenstypes of vegetables and herbs.
Deke says that he got enthusiastic about the idea of a community garden after he opened Woody’s All-Natural Burgers on Quaker Avenue. Woody’s is committed to using fresh, locally-produced vegetables and beef for his restaurant fare, including onions from Pine Island and hormone-free chicken from Sullivan County. He wanted to grow more of his ingredients nearby and after talking with Guy Jones of Blooming Hill Farm, an organic farm that sells produce year round, the pair came up with a plan.
Jones’ organic farm in Blooming Grove is one of the most successful in the region. He and his sister, Cindy, operate a market every Saturday and Sunday at the farm, where they also offer people a chance to buy a share of the farm’s produce in advance, at the start of the season. These shares are part of a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) agreement, which gives Blooming Hill and other farms a measure of stability.
Last year, Guy Jones finalized the purchase of 90 acres of farmland on Otterkill Road from the Open Space Institute. In the summer, he operated a farm stand on the property one day a week (expect it return again by late July) but hadn't started to farm the land yet.
Jones agreed to use part of his 90 acres to create the community garden, where anyone who is part of the CSA can rent a 20 x 4-foot raised bed to grow their own flowers or vegetables for $50 a year.
For that small investment, Deke and Guy have provided a securely fenced-in area, lumber for raised beds, mulch and water pumped in from a well on the property. The new farmers have also found a sense of community as they share their fledgling knowledge of how to plant, mulch, and otherwise nurture their plants .
Jan Johnson lives in a rental house she says is too shady for a garden, so she has set up her two beds to provide food for just one person—that means one or two of 23 different plants, from beets and peas to radishes and Brussels sprouts.
Nearby, Marla Hansen is applying the knowledge she got tending a family farm as a child in Kansas and is learning to grow vegetables again by trial and error. During the recent hot spell, for example, most of her peas wilted because she didn’t water enough.
“‘The community garden is cultural, about the quality of life,” Hazirjian says. “It’s a learning experience in how to start feeding ourselves.”
He hopes that participants will be able to teach each other how to can or freeze vegetables at harvest time and he looks forward to a Thanksgiving celebration based on eating off the land.
The currently plot of land has 24 beds. A few are still available, so if you are interested, please contact Blooming Hill Farm to find out how to join the CSA and garden.
Deke looks out at the golden grasses that lead down the field just beneath Schunnemunk Mountain and he starts to talk about next year having more gardens where people can continue to build an food economy that is closer to home, closer to the earth, and, in his eyes, a bit closer to heaven.
CLICK ON ANY PHOTO FOR A LARGER VIEW.
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