Limited number of plots still available as Cortez Community Garden enters second year
By: Kirbi Vaughn
Tags: Local Food System, Food Justice, Gardening, Health, Community Engagement

Abundance in the late summer garden at the Cortez Recreation Center.

(March 18, 2019) CORTEZ, CO — Spring approaches and community gardeners in Cortez are ready to begin another season of growing at the Common Ground Cortez Community Garden, located on the southwest corner of the Cortez Recreation Center. The 2018 gardening season was a success and with the expansion last spring adding 20 new garden plots, the garden was full of vegetables, flowers, and four generations of the Cortez community growing food together.

Three garden plots are available to residents of Montezuma County for the 2019 season. They will be assigned on a first-come-first-served basis, so don’t hesitate to sign up if you’re looking for some sun, soil, water, tools, and a community to grow with.

The plots might seem quiet for now, but the soil (and gardeners’ anticipation) has been building all winter. Colette Cummings and Read Brugger, two of the group’s gardeners, have started lettuce and onion seedlings, with tomatoes and peppers soon to follow. Brugger and Cummings are part of the group of volunteers that worked with the City of Cortez to establish the expanded garden in 2018.

The seedlings will soon be featured in upcoming transplanting workshops at the community garden. Many will be planted in demonstration beds where they will eventually be harvested and donated to the Good Samaritan Center food pantry in Cortez. Last year, over 200 pounds of organically-grown vegetables, picked that same day, made their way to the food pantry.

“Our clients look for the community garden’s produce and really like the idea that it is being grown right here in Cortez.” -Kristen Tworek, food pantry director

Garden members have been meeting regularly over the winter, and have plans for 2019 to be even bigger and better than last year. Priorities include adding more soil to the raised beds and creating both a children’s garden and a container garden, as well as more community-wide events which will include educational gardening workshops throughout the season.

The volunteer-run community garden is part of a larger effort in Montezuma and Dolores Counties to address food insecurity in the Four Corners. Access to affordable and healthy food reverses the trend toward diets of additives, fast food, and crops bread for ease of transportation and packaging rather than nutrition. Common Ground’s vision is for a diverse and vibrant network of community gardens that inspires people to be self-reliant and build resilient communities by creating spaces for community members to help each other grow healthy food.

Brugger is coordinating the fundraising that will make these ideas a reality. He cites recurring donations from Tri-State Generation and Transmission, First National Bank Cortez, Dolores State Bank and the Mesa Verde Garden Club as “examples of the broad support that community gardening has in our business community.” Slavens True Value has once again supported the project with discounts on building materials and Sprinkler Pros will assist gardeners in upgrading their water systems.

A family plot (144 sq ft) and two individual plots (64 sq ft) are ready and waiting for residents of Montezuma County to sign up and start planting. Plots are available on a first-come-first-served basis. For more information on how to apply for a plot at the Common Ground Cortez Community Garden, or to find out how you can get involved, go to www.commongroundcortez.org or email commongroundcortez@gmail.com.

The members of the community garden welcome visitors to the garden. The gate is always open.