Only the Beginning: Dig Day

Last Sunday, February 27th, residents from all over Fayetteville came together to officially build the Walker Park Community Garden.

Organizers came out around 11 to start setting up. We laid down cardboard as an organic way to stop  the pesky johnson grass that covers the site. We were soon joined by neighbors who were passing through and stopped to help.

One of the many moments the wind gave us a scare - By Tracey Haynes

The wind kept uprooting our cardboard, so we began covering the area with a thin layer of top soil.

By Tracey Haynes

We finished marking off the beds right around 1 p.m., when the official ceremony began. A crowd of  volunteers, armed with shovels and gloves, had already formed around the edges of the site, waiting to help. We hadn't even noticed. Suddenly, it was time to start! 

The ceremony began with a message from Lisa Netherland, horticulturist for the City of Fayetteville, and  Mayor Lioneld Jordan, and City Councilwoman Brenda Thiel. Then, our team of garden organizers, along with the city officials, cut the bright green ribbon and Dig Day officially began!

We built four 40-by-4 foot beds, with walkways in between, marked off with twine and metal stakes. Volunteers divided into teams to work on each of the four beds. We began by filling each bed with 8 inches of top soil.

By Tracey Haynes

By Fayetteville Partners for Better Housing

By Tracey Haynes

Then, we added four inches of beautiful compost from the city.

By Casey Willits

By Tracey Haynes

We finished up by spread mulch - also from the City - all around the beds.

By Fayetteville Partners For Better Housing

And then - in what seemed like no time at all but was actually 5 hours from beginning to end - we were done!

The most wonderful thing about this especially wonderful day was the attitude everyone brought to the garden. This truly was a community effort; people from all walks of life came out because they wanted to help. Among the 70+ people who came to Dig Day were senior citizens, kids from Fayetteville High School's National Honors Society and Teen Leadership X-perience, UofA students, parents, teachers, and everyone in between, from all over Fayetteville. Greenhouse Grille donated a delicious spread of Greek food and Arsaga's Espresso Cafe donated coffee and water. One kind man even gave out free massages for our achy workers!

Dig Day was also the official beginning of registration for individual plots at the garden. About 20 of the 30 plots were claimed, but we still have 10 left! If you are interested in gardening with us this year, please email walkerparkcommunitygarden@gmail.com. And be sure to come to our meeting tomorrow, March 6th at 2pm at our newly constructed garden site, right next to the Fayetteville Senior Activity and Wellness Center.

Our Dig Day truly would not have been possible without the help from all of our volunteers and the generous support from Ozark Natural Foods. This day truly brought together this community, and it was fantastic.

Just a portion of our awesome volunteer crew! By Fayetteville Partners for Better Housing

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to make this event such a success. 

-Andrea

Be sure to check out the Dig Day press!

Ozarks At Large Interview

Ozarks Unbound

Casey Willits Blog
4029 Preview of Dig Day