A sign welcomes visitors to the Algonquin Apartments community garden. | photo by Zachary Clingenpeel
When life gave them isolation, Carolyn Woodsmall and Judy Maret planted tomatoes. It started as a simple way to pass the time during the pandemic — one zucchini, three tomatoes and a hole in the ground behind the Algonquin Apartments in Webster Groves.
More than five years later, these two senior women have created the “Algonquin Garden Team” and turned the patch of dirt into a flourishing garden with nearly 30 different vegetables and flowers.
“Judy and I started with flowers,” said 85-year-old Woodsmall. “We had never grown vegetables, but when the pandemic started and everything closed down, we had nothing to do. So we said, ‘Let’s start a vegetable garden.’”
From left: Judy Maret, Carolyn Woodsmall, Joan Oldham, Donna Luker, Cynthia Verseman, Sharon Schreiber and Sandy Cobb, members of the Algonquin Apartments Garden Team. Tenants in the apartment building founded the garden during COVID and have maintained it ever since. | photo by Zachary Clingenpeel
Equipped with pink shovels, the “Algonquin Garden Team” consists of seven residents who call 55 S. Gore home. These ladies spend early spring until the first frost filling the garden with every vegetable possible — beans, peppers, eggplants, potatoes and herbs. The most colorful inclusion is thanks to Maret — dubbed Johnny Appleseed by Woodsmall — due to her nurture of the Zinnia flower.
“I save the seeds,” said 88-year-old Maret. “When fall comes, I dry the head, and then I save them and plant them next spring. I’m just disappointed I don’t have any yellow, so next year, I’m going to buy some new seeds and mix it with mine and see what happens.”
Carolyn Woodsmall, a founding member of the Algonquin Garden Team, cuts basil from a plant. | photo by Zachary Clingenpeel
Some mornings, a basket filled with vegetables from the garden is left in the lobby of the apartment complex. A text to the “Algonquin Garden Team” group chat goes out, alerting the ladies that the latest bounty is first come, first serve.
But residents of the Algonquin Apartments aren’t the only ones reaping the rewards of this thriving garden. The backyard has become a sort of neighborhood attraction for passersby who make it a part of their daily walking path simply to notice its beauty and steady progress.
“Just how much people have appreciated it has made it worthwhile,” Woodsmall said. “The people in the building, along with the people who walk by appreciate it.”
A basket filled with vegetables sits on a bench outside of the Algonquin Apartments community garden. | photo by Zachary Clingenpeel
The garden has also intrigued more than the neighbors. Every summer, it seems a new animal infiltrates a vegetable patch, forcing the “Algonquin Garden Team” ladies to search the internet for preventative solutions. Most recently, the self-taught gardeners have been using tomato bags to prevent squirrels from eating their crops. They’ve also had to get creative to keep the rabbits from nibbling on everything in sight.
“The rabbits loved the seedlings of the beans, so we took a Solo cup, cut the bottom of it and put it over the top of the seedlings so the rabbits can’t eat it,” Woodsmall said. “We learned a lot this year.”
Joan Oldham, another member of the “Algonquin Garden Team,” said the women try to make use of everything and be as organic as possible. This means avoiding spraying pesticide, and even flipping old fire pits into flower beds.
A pink shovel owned by a member of the Algonquin Apartments Garden Team. Each member of the team has a matching pink shovel. | photo by Zachary Clingenpeel
Oldham added that the garden has brought more than just a plentiful bounty of crops — it’s helped create community by bringing residents together.
“These apartments are one of the few where you can still do something you miss doing as a homeowner,” said 68-year-old Oldham. “We have a place where we can just dig in and get our hands dirty. As people move in, they think, ‘Hey, I can dig again. I can go do something in the yard.’ Then, we get to know each other.”
Sanchan Khanuja will be a senior at Kirkwood High School this fall. She is editor-in-chief of The Kirkwood Call, the school’s newspaper, and is a summer intern with the Webster-Kirkwood Times.
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