Preparing a New Garden Crop to Help Those in Need
Not discouraged by the current snow-filled winter, Katie Colling is busy making sure Katharina’s Gardening and Compost Program is getting new seedlings for its 24 by 32 foot plot of land provided by the Faith Lutheran Church on West 7th street in downtown Reno. This is the third year the community garden will harvest vegetables, fruits, herbs and grow flowers.
“It’s my whole life, if that makes sense. I’m on disability so I can't really go out and get a job,” said Colling who is currently managing the program. “So I have time to be able to put towards my passions...my passion is growing food, eating it, sharing it.”
The proceeds of the community garden will go to volunteer groups that distribute food such as Washoe County Food Not Bombs and the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality (RISE). This way, Colling explains, all the food goes directly to those living on the streets.
“Nobody should be hungry,” Colling said. ”So I would argue not only that people get physical food sustenance into them, but also the feeling of somebody caring about them and the human aspect of someone genuinely going out of their way for another person.”
Colling checks the seed packages to see which plant needs the most sun before mapping where it will be grown in the garden.
Preparing for More Planting
Colling says that her goal is to grow 500 pounds of produce this year compared to the 200 pounds collected both last year and the year before.
She explained that last year the actual planting got delayed six weeks due to a layer of plastic being discovered six inches below the surface. Recently, a fresh layer of compost was spread across the garden.
Katharina’s Gardening and Compost Program is collecting materials like egg shells and orange peels to convert to soil.
Indoor Session
Unable to spend time in the garden due to the current snowy weather, Colling and other volunteers recently gathered inside to discuss the upcoming season’s plans. These include constructing tiny homes on the end of the Faith Lutheran Church’s parking lot.
Garden wise they intend to plant flowers in an attempt to attract more bees and expect to begin harvesting food in late July.
The next event, open to volunteers, will be Saturday March 16, starting at 11 a.m., to build up the garden’s soil.
“We're growing it together and serving it directly to people in poverty and that's the goal of the garden versus plots where people can take food and do what they want with it,” Colling said, “It's a real community garden.” Colling (left) and volunteer Clark Watkins prepare a map on how to design the 2019 garden.