Demonstration Garden &
Children's Garden Programs
The demonstration garden at the Recreation Center was formed in 2017 with seven small plots that comprised the original MSTFP garden. Volunteers from the entire region including Pagosa Springs, Bayfield, Durango, Mancos, Cortez, and Farmington helped clear the garden of overgrowth and weeds, and gave us a strong, beautiful foundation from which to begin.
The garden is now a showcase for intensive gardening ideas, succession planting, companion planting, season extension, and experiments using organic fertilizer and amendments. All produce from these plots is donated to the food pantry.
In 2019, the demonstration garden was reduced to five plots to support the new Children's Garden Program. Thanks to smart planning, season extension and intensive gardening practices, we've been able to increase harvest totals from the years prior in a much smaller space.
The demonstration plots are also used throughout the season for workshops and demonstrations. We notice many folks sitting under the pergola for meetings, a break from work, and to enjoy their lunch.
Throughout the season, gardeners host seed swaps, seedling exchanges, workshops, garden tours and potlucks.
The Children's Garden program is held each summer through the Rec Center's Playground Days Summer Camp. Garden volunteers created a program full of activities that involve children in the garden through literature, art activities, field journals, planting seeds and of course, tasting the harvest!
Our sessions have been held either monthly or weekly, depending on the availability of volunteers. If you'd like more information or to volunteer with the program, please email Kirbi at commongroundcortez@gmail.com.
Learning
in the Garden
Scavenger hunt to familiarize children with the garden site.
Identifying pollinators on dill growing in one of the children's garden plots. We focused on ladybugs for a fun art activity then made yogurt dill dip with our harvest, using carrots and cucumbers from the plots to snack on.
The Dragon's Egg cucumbers we planted just were not growing! To help them along, the children summoned Pepitolina, the Cucumber Dragon. We danced, sang, chanted, laughed and paraded. By the end of our session that day, the vines had tiny cucumbers on them!
2024 Dates and Program Details
COMING SOON!
