PORT TOWNSEND — A tour through Jefferson County will show off how the gardens grow.
Eight of the 25 community gardens in the county will be on display from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
“This is really a celebration of what we’ve achieved as far as community gardens,” said Leora Stein, an AmeriCorps volunteer who helped organize the tours this year.
“On a small scale, it allows us to come together as a community and see how we are being productive and taking control of our food supply.
“By doing this, we know what we’re putting in our bodies and we can also see what is going on with the community gardens.
“Hopefully people will become inspired to join one or start their own.”
Among the gardens is a project at Grant Street Elementary School, which this year has stepped up to having all 15 classes tend to the garden along with the Individual Contract Education classes for the district, said Principal Steve Finch.
“Every other week, we have an half-hour lesson where the kids do some weeding, harvesting, cleaning and gleaning,” Finch said.
“Last spring, we went over and had a harvest feast, and some of the food has wound up in our cafeteria, which is a really neat thing for the kids.
“It is a growing project and has tons of potential.”
The self-guided tour of gardens is free and includes:
• Dundee Hill Community Garden — corner of Hastings and Sheridan streets, Port Townsend.
• Wayward Farm Neighborhood Garden — at 23rd and Kuhn streets, Port Townsend.
• Rosewind Community Garden — corner of Umatilla and Haines streets, Port Townsend.
• New Song Community Garden — San Juan Avenue, behind the New Song Worship Center, 3918 San Juan Ave., Port Townsend.
• Grant Street School Garden — 1637 Grant St., Port Townsend.
• Dryland Wheat Project — near Collinwood Farm, between F and Tremont streets, Port Townsend.
• Jackman Community Garden — at 18th and Jackman streets, Port Townsend.
• Olympic Community Action Programs P-Patch — 10632 state Highway 19, Port Hadlock, behind the Olympic Community Action Programs Thrift Shoppe.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
