(April 28, 2016) Maryland 4-H Youth Development, a University of Maryland Extension program, will present a salad table demonstration at the Pocomoke Downtown Community Garden on Thursday, May 5.
The free program, scheduled from 5-6:30 p.m., will show participants how to create an elevated garden that can extend the growing season, as well as prevent interference from pesky vegetable pillagers, like rabbits and groundhogs.
Lettuce produced by the table, which will be constructed and planted during the demonstration, will then go to the Delmarva Discovery Center, just down the street, and feed some of its resident animals.
The event also will double as an awareness drive for the community garden, which is supported by the City of Pocomoke and numerous volunteer efforts.
Started in 2012, the garden provides fresh produce for the Samaritan Shelter, as well as other local food banks. Soon, however, the garden will be expanded and rebranded as the “Corner Sanctuary.”
“We’re calling it that, because we’re turning it into a healing garden,” organizer Neelam Strom said. “Besides producing vegetables, we want to create a sanctuary where disabled and elderly can come and get the benefits of the different kinds of therapy – we’re trying to do color therapy, we’re trying to do aroma therapy, so we’re having different sections of the garden that will cater to that group of people.”
Essentially, Strom said, the development will serve to transform an “empty lot into a nice park.”
Grants and donations have helped to fund the project, although Strom said volunteers mostly have driven the garden’s operations. Students from Pocomoke Middle School, Pocomoke High School and Worcester Technical High School in Newark also contributed to the garden, earning service hours.
“The community garden is here for the community, and it tries to bring the community and the people of Pocomoke together,” Strom said.
Pocomoke Downtown Community Garden is at the corner of Clarke Avenue and Willow Street in downtown Pocomoke City. Donations to the garden and the Corner sanctuary are tax deductible.
For more information, search “Pocomoke Downtown Community Garden” on Facebook, or visit www.downtownpocomoke.com.
The free program, scheduled from 5-6:30 p.m., will show participants how to create an elevated garden that can extend the growing season, as well as prevent interference from pesky vegetable pillagers, like rabbits and groundhogs.
Lettuce produced by the table, which will be constructed and planted during the demonstration, will then go to the Delmarva Discovery Center, just down the street, and feed some of its resident animals.
The event also will double as an awareness drive for the community garden, which is supported by the City of Pocomoke and numerous volunteer efforts.
Started in 2012, the garden provides fresh produce for the Samaritan Shelter, as well as other local food banks. Soon, however, the garden will be expanded and rebranded as the “Corner Sanctuary.”
“We’re calling it that, because we’re turning it into a healing garden,” organizer Neelam Strom said. “Besides producing vegetables, we want to create a sanctuary where disabled and elderly can come and get the benefits of the different kinds of therapy – we’re trying to do color therapy, we’re trying to do aroma therapy, so we’re having different sections of the garden that will cater to that group of people.”
Essentially, Strom said, the development will serve to transform an “empty lot into a nice park.”
Grants and donations have helped to fund the project, although Strom said volunteers mostly have driven the garden’s operations. Students from Pocomoke Middle School, Pocomoke High School and Worcester Technical High School in Newark also contributed to the garden, earning service hours.
“The community garden is here for the community, and it tries to bring the community and the people of Pocomoke together,” Strom said.
Pocomoke Downtown Community Garden is at the corner of Clarke Avenue and Willow Street in downtown Pocomoke City. Donations to the garden and the Corner sanctuary are tax deductible.
For more information, search “Pocomoke Downtown Community Garden” on Facebook, or visit www.downtownpocomoke.com.