Cultivating Crops and Kindness
In the heart of West Salem, a community garden buzzes with activity. It’s a place where folks from all walks of life come together to cultivate so much more than plants. Under the guidance of Millyellen, a dedicated volunteer community leader, the garden has blossomed into a place of learning and camaraderie.
“I love having my hands in the dirt, and I love people,” Millyellen says. But her involvement doesn’t stop at the garden’s gates. Noticing a need to bridge a language gap, Millyellen — along with West Salem High School student Angel — have worked to strengthen communication between English and Spanish-speaking gardeners. Angel interprets at meetings, proofreads documents, and ensures that Spanish- speaking gardeners without text access receive important updates. Their combined efforts have fostered a deeper sense of inclusion, trust, and community.
“We’ve tried to have a couple of potlucks to celebrate our harvest … or just gatherings before the start of the season,” she says. These events extend into her home, where she welcomes gardeners for delicious barbecues in the summer and cocoa nights in the winter. They’ve become a tightly knit group!
Truly, the Edgewater Community Garden is a vibrant place where everyone brings something unique to the table. Each gardener cultivates a variety of plants, including tomatillos, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini, among others. No food goes to waste there, either — because whatever they don’t eat during the season is preserved through canning.
The communal spirit of the garden is enriched by the sharing of expertise. For instance, a Master Gardener enhances everyone’s skills by offering valuable advice. And practical projects — such as constructing a new fence, thanks to a garden grant that Marion Polk Food Share provided — underscore the gardeners’ sense of collective responsibility and the care they give their shared space.
Unexpected acts of kindness are common, too, with gardeners routinely stepping in to help one another. “Somebody weeded around the blueberry plants … or somebody watered them,” Millyellen says.
This sense of shared commitment extends to watching over each other’s plots during absences, like when a fellow gardener watered for a firefighter who was deployed and unable to care for his plot.
Millyellen’s reflection on a day when families planted daffodils together captures the essence of the garden’s impact. “I love the intercultural and intergenerational [interaction] that was happening that day,” she says. “It really blessed me.”
This sentiment echoes throughout the garden, where every plant grown and every relationship fostered is a testament to our community’s resilience.
At Marion Polk Food Share, we see every day how gardens like the one in West Salem not only feed our neighbors, but also nourish their minds, bodies, and souls. It’s your support that sustains these vital communal spaces. Thank you for being part of this growth!
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