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In The Press
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The Telegraph
March 13, 2005
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For The Telegraph/ERICH KASSLER
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Community garden selling shares of land
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By JIM KULP
For The Telegraph
GODFREY - The garden is open, and Amy Cloud, the head farmer, is looking for customers.
Called Community Supported Garden at LaVista (Spanish for "the
view"), it offers a wide variety of organically grown vegetables and fruits to members who sign up as "shareholders." It is on the grounds of the Oblate novitiate at 4350 Levis Lane.
The price
of the share is $500 for a family and $300 for a single person. Surplus can be left on a table at the farm that is devoted to donations to Crisis Food Center and the Salvation Army. The project is supported by the
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who lease the land to grow the crops, in addition to providing a house for Cloud.
Cloud does it all during the growing season - plowing, planting and harvesting - though
some crops are pick-your-own. She usually has two part-time helpers but hasn't hired anyone yet for the upcoming growing season. This is the third year for the project.
"The first year, 2003, we had two
acres," she said. "Last year we had three acres. This year we'll have four. We grow more than 65 different kinds of vegetables and fruits. We hope to get 140 families participating this year."
Shareholders can take home 10 to 12 pounds of produce each week.
In 2003, the garden grew 23,000 pounds of produce; in 2004 the total was 26,000 pounds.
"Over the last two years," Cloud said,
"we donated over 2 tons of produce to the Crisis Food Center and the Salvation Army."
The season extends over 27 weeks, from mid-May through the third week of November. Shareholders come weekly to
the farm to collect their produce, choosing a pickup day, either Tuesdays or Fridays, between noon and 7 p.m.
Cloud said the shareholders get produce that is fresh, organic, locally grown and free from
chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. She said the community garden is a national program under the name of Community Supported Agriculture. Besides Godfrey, other gardens are in Edwardsville and near
Jerseyville and two are in St. Louis.
"It's a great alternative to selling to groceries or stores," she said, "because you avoid a whole market system where you have no control over the price.
We set a budget at the start of the year that covers the cost of growing all the produce. Then we set the price of the shares to meet the budget. "
If some families are found to be in real need, they are
offered reduced-price shares. "Last year we had eight, this year we'll have 11," Cloud said. That offer covers people who have low incomes or health problems that require them to eat lots of vegetables as
ordered by a doctor.
"The Alton-Godfrey Rotary Club built our greenhouse for free," she said. "They wanted repayment by donating food to charities. We paid it off in two years."
Cloud does all the planning and planting for the garden. She has experience in the organic field from working for other organic farms. "I also grew up on a farm in Michigan," she said.
Some
shareholders help the garden by working in such areas as administration, the budget, maintenance and on the Web site, she said. "We encourage volunteers to donate time in an effort to build community."
The produce the farm grows is better than store-bought because it is harvested the day the shareholders pick it up, Cloud said. "The stuff in the grocery was harvested a week ago, travels miles to get to
its destination and is sprayed with chemicals."
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HERE'S WHAT THE SHAREHOLDERS CAN FEAST ON
OVER THREE GROWING SEASONS:
Spring: asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, greens, lettuce, three kinds of peas, radish, salad mix, scallion, spinach, strawberries, turnips.
Summer:
beans, beets, cantaloupe, carrots, cucumber, eggplant, greens, kohlrabi, lettuce, okra, onion, peppers hot or sweet, radicchio, shallots, summer squash, tomatoes, salsa, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, watermelon, herbs.
Fall: beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collards, salad mix, kale, leek, lettuce, onion, parsnip, potatoes, radish, rutabaga, spinach, winter squash, turnips, garlic.
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