INCHELIUM, Wash. – The first seeds went into the garden by the current Senior Meal Site on May 20, which was the last frost of spring in Inchelium. There are eight zones of the community garden that everyone is welcome to come and harvest. Ranny Fry has been the lead gardener, and it has been her vision to see it through to where it is today. It takes a lot to make a garden work. The soil was tilled, stakes were driven into the ground and strings were tied to make straight lines, “That’s how I was taught how to plant by the old folks,” she says.
Ranny has had plenty of help to do all the hard work. Each zone of the garden needs an hour of watering each day, which she begins at 6 o’clock each evening. They have to water one sprinkler at a time due to the water shortage in town. The weeds also love the water, so that takes a lot of time. The crops were planted 20 inches apart so that a lawn mower can make a pass. She has received financial support from the Lake Roosevelt Community Health Clinic, as well as Colville Tribal Behavioral Health Programs, and the Diabetes Program.
The elders at the Senior Meal Site saw her hauling buckets of rocks and soil, so they voted to buy her a wheelbarrow, hoses, and sprinklers. They had a couple meetings to decide what to plant, and the two meetings saw 25 and 30 attendees. They wanted to learn to make pico de gallo. A gentleman at the meeting suggested corn for popping popcorn, so now there is a stand that will be harvested next month. Classes will be held for making the pico de gallo, as well as the popcorn.
Robert Watt and Larry Tonasket helped keep the weeds at bay, and Larry helped keep the equipment running. The ambiance it created is special. Elders come to sit at the garden in the evening, and people are free to come and harvest whatever they see is ripe. We ate a Bulgarian cucumber for a snack as she related the story of the garden. She wrote up an “Inchelium Strong” white paper that invited everyone to the bounty of produce: fresh cucumber, tomatoes, jalapeño and bell peppers, and zucchinis, and too many varieties of vegetables to list. Ranny says it is worth every cent and she got a heck of a tan out of her labor of love.
The deer are kept away with a device that blasts an ultrasonic sound that deer and dogs can hear. It also uses a strobe of fluorescent light. No herbicides or pesticides are used; vinegar diluted down to 45% does the job. Marigolds are used to keep the bugs away, and are in each of the eight plots.
The plot closest to the CCT Behavioral Health Program is overseen by Johanna Miller. She wants to bring traditional plants to the garden in the future. She would like to grow it into a healing garden. Lots of bees are seen on the flowers, indulging their sweet tooth to produce their honey, as well as pollinating the plants. This is another goal of the healing garden, to bring back all of the pollinators.
Ranny sends a special thanks to Kathy and Larry Desautel, “Your love and passion of gardening is appreciated and an inspiration to us all.”
Next year, the garden will be at the new Senior Meal Site, currently under construction by the old Post and Pole Plant. Designs for the garden plot are already in the works with raised beds.
“The community garden is dedicated to all those who gardened before us.”
Comments are closed.