A church-based community garden in Gary’s Midtown area is calling for local gardeners to roll up their sleeves and start planting for the 2019 growing season. Stewart House Urban Farms & Garden is renting raised garden beds in a number of sizes at its site at 1501 Massachusetts Street, said Secretary-Treasurer Alma White.
“We have small, large and waist-high raised garden beds that make gardening accessible regardless of the gardeners’ age, agility or mobility issues,” White said. Season-long garden bed rentals are $20 for large bed, $15 for a smaller bed, and $10 for waist-high beds, White said.
People new to gardening can learn from experienced gardeners by coming out on work days held 9 a.m. to noon the second and fourth Saturdays through October. Also, garden implements are available at those times. “Come and grow your veggies and learn from like-minded people,” said White.
The community garden is an nondenominational project of Christ United Methodist Church, 201 W. Ridge Street, Gary. Launched in 2011, Stewart House is named for a former settlement house at the same site that served African-Americans who migrated to industrial jobs in Gary through the 20th Century. The building was demolished in the 1970s, leaving the site available to teach sustainable gardening practices to remedy a “food desert” area. For more information, or to rent a raised garden bed, contact Ms. White at (219) 949-6228.
