We are having an amazing but busy summer here at CFI. Now that the Nelsonville Community Garden has been re-opened and is blooming with plants, we have been fortunate to explore a few new community partnerships. Please see some of our additional Nelsonville-based programming that we have completed:
As you can see, we have been busy in the Nelsonville Community Garden and within the Nelsonville community. We are happy to continue to work in partnership with local community organizations so that everyone has the opportunity to access local, fresh produce within the Nelsonville Community.
The Nelsonville Community Garden plots are growing!
Our grand re-opening ceremony on April 8 was a ton of fun and brought together community members, partner organizations like the Athens Health Department, COMCorps (an Athens AmeriCorps program), the Tri-County Career Center, and CFI staff and board members for an evening celebrating months of hard work. A brief downpour gave us excellent opportunity to test out the new shed (it’s waterproof!), and the event was even published in local media! We also took advantage of the community gathering to give away seeds as part of our annual seed giveaway.
Throughout this project we’ve really enjoyed working with various members of the Athens Creating Healthy Communities Coalition. With help from a CHC grant we were able to purchase beautiful, new tools for the Nelsonville Community Garden as well as put up our final wall of the fence. The Athens County Health Department, who facilitates the grant, also worked with Nelsonville accessibility group Sech-Kar to test out the accessibility of the garden. We are so fortunate to have the continued support of these organizations, and cannot wait to see what else we can accomplish!
We also owe enormous thanks to the awesomeTri-County Career Center Carpentry program! They refurbished a shed and built our two accessible garden beds. Their contribution has made such a difference in getting this garden together and we could not be more grateful.
Now, thanks to your support and to community collaborations, the plots are ready to grow some amazing food! We've been digging in the dirt together and tomatoes, potatoes, onions, garlic, and kale are in some plots already. A million thanks for helping us make this project happen, and for ensuring that it’s sustainable.
Community Food Initiatives is excited to announce that we have been partnering with the Creating Healthy Communities Coalition to work towards completing the new Nelsonville Community Garden. The space has come a long way from the paved parking lot it used to be—the plots have all been amended and have cover crops growing over the winter and the paths are all mulched, but there is still lots of work to be done! Once the weather cooperates, our next steps will be installing a compost system, a tool shed, a kiosk, and the final side of the fence. With the help of the CHC, we will be looking into ways to make this Community Garden more accessible to all, including looking into building different types handicapped-accessible gardening beds. We have begun recruiting gardeners for this new amazing space, and are in the process of planning a ribbon cutting ceremony that we hope to hold in early April. The ribbon cutting ceremony will be a community-wide celebration inviting everyone to come see the progress and potential of the new Nelsonville Community Garden!
It’s official—Community Food Initiatives is moving to Nelsonville!
In February 2019, Community Food Initiatives will be making the move from Athens to Nelsonville! We have outgrown our office space at the ACEnet business complex in Athens, and have signed the lease for new office space in The Mary Hill Health Center (formerly Doctor’s Hospital of Nelsonville), located at 1950 Mount Saint Mary’s Drive, Nelsonville, OH.
Community Food Initiatives will be joining Integrated Services Behavioral Health, as well as Hopewell Health Centers in the newly renovated space. CFI is thrilled to have a new community garden right in our own backyard at the new location!
We look forward to engaging the Nelsonville community this spring. The new community garden is about 9,000 square feet and will have numerous garden plots for community members, Mary Hill Health Center staff and Integrated Services clients.
Thanks to numerous Ohio University student volunteer groups, the Nelsonville Community Garden is all ready for the spring. Soil amendments have been added and rye has been planted as a cover crop for the winter.
Thank you to all of our supporters, we cannot wait to share our growth!
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Exciting things are happening here in Nelsonville as we begin our balmy transition into fall!
We were fortunate to have a group of volunteers from Ohio University’s Campus Involvement center come out and help us accomplish a lot of big tasks. Together we were able to turn up 4 of our beds and begin to add the much needed soil amendments. While the plots were being tended to, we were also able to cut down and create a mulched path all the way around the garden. It is amazing what a difference mulch can make!
With our hands in the dirt we discussed the healing powers of gardening as well as the connection we began to feel with the earth, our food, and each other. The vision for the Nelsonville gardens is to bring exactly those connections to the local community and creating a space for creation and growth. Our plans moving forward at this point are to install a fence on top of the retaining wall, finish working in the soil amendments in time for winter, and laying down the rest of the paths. In addition, we are excited to be in the planning process of involving the community in designing and painting a mural on the large, white retaining wall!
We are so grateful for all the folks who have shared their time with us, we could not have accomplished all we have without them. An extra big thank you to the Ohio University Campus Involvement center for their dedication.
Here’s to a successful fall season!
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