By: Edir Coronado
On a hot Saturday afternoon on September 10th, Rahway gardeners gathered around at the new Rahway garden located across the street from the JFK Community Center, in the Friendship Baptist Church lot, to celebrate the fruit of their labor. David Brown, Fourth Ward Municipal Council member had put together the city’s second community garden, with the backing of the city’s residents and Mr. Brown’s colleagues. Master Gardner Debra Stuart had been invited to the garden by Mr. Brown in the spring of 2015, during which there were only 10 beds, one of which was rented out by Debra. In an effort to teach kids the importance of vegetation and gardening, Mr. Brown enlisted Debra to instruct the children how grow vegetables, flowers, and fruits. Debra was more than happy to oblige and after several meetings, in order to have the proper tools to teach the children, the gardeners had installed 30 additional beds. This allowed Debra to have an area to teach the children.
Mr. Brown chose the perfect person to teach the children, Debra has been a gardener since she was a child and has been exposed to gardens with vegetables and flowers throughout her entire childhood. She currently holds the title of Vice President of Rahway Garden Club and became a certified Master Gardener in 2015 as well as Master Tree Steward in 2015. Part of the reason Debra enjoys working in the garden and teaching children is because of what the garden itself encourages. When a person grows their own vegetation, it sparks their curiosity, prompting them to learn something about the plant, the insects, or possible diseases. Gardening also promotes community unity according to Debra. During her time at different community gardens, she has met many different gardeners and in those encounters they’ve shared each other’s harvest, traded recipes, and tips on how to grow different plants.
The building of the garden itself helps bring people together because creating a garden takes a community effort. The carpenters who build the soil beds were from Kenilworth and supply donations came from local business around the City of Rahway. Debra express, “it is more than just the garden, it is a team of businesses and people working together.” The success of the community garden has been great and there are hopes in building a new community garden. The more gardens that are created the more food citizens can grow for themselves, which would in turn supplement their food bill.
The children are just as excited as the adults about the new garden. Throughout the summer, these young gardeners have begun planting seedlings, learning about the importance of insects and how they pollinate the flowers, as well gained the appreciation for growing plants and flowers just to for their beauty. “The children have realized when they see the plants grow they have done something productive,” expressed Debra.
Debra explains that without the Friendship Baptist Church, local businesses, UCMG Come grow with Us, and many others in the community the garden would’ve never happened.
If anyone would like more information about creating a community garden, they can contact The Master Gardeners of Union County by visiting mastergardeners-uc.org.
(above) Master Gardner Debra Stuart and her team of volunteers.
To see more photos of this event please visit Rahway Open Garden Harvest Fest 2016
