“We’ve had some really great donations,” she said, including “tons of plants.”
As far as the OMO Community Garden, Layes said, “We’re wanting people to get involved with it. It takes a lot of hands to run a garden, aside from just the planting and the watering every other day, the weeding, picking the vegetables is going to be kind of a task, but this is a community garden, so we want them to be able to participate.”
She explained to be included in the community garden, anyone (including children) can join their OMO Gardener’s Group—no charge and no experience required. A brief survey of the garden area, which is situated in the back of the OMO facility, shows several raised gardens (no knee work involved) as well as a few raised beds at child height. Tomato plants are interspersed with marigolds, and Layes mentioned the importance of ‘companion planting’ – plants which support each other to naturally keep pests away, which in turn helps support organic gardening and cuts down on man-made chemicals.
Although much for the garden produce and herbs are used for OMO cooking projects with clients, Garden Group members also get to share in the goods. Also shared is a wealth of experience and knowledge made available through OMO gardeners. (Did you know fresh herbs can be used for natural household cleaners?)
Sustainability is the key, and for first-timers, Layes said with a warning, “you will leave with probably too much information, like probably a little bit of an overload, but come back and we’ll just keep telling you over and over and over again.”
The OMO Garden Crawl event is Friday, May 1, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. (Note: the original flier said May 7, which Layes said was a typo.) Wear comfortable shoes and think green thoughts! For more information, contact Layes at 417-667-7007.
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