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Dedication
The Dr. Robert R. Johnston Community Garden at Rhodesville was dedicated June 21. State and town officials, gardeners and members of the Johnston family helped out with the ribbon cutting. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Kuszaj.
Community
garden
dedicated
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- Who would have thought that a giant cabbage would be the impetus for a community garden where once a school and a senior citizens center stood on Smith Street?
With a little bit of grant money and a bushel basket full of volunteer effort, the Dr. Robert R. Johnston Community Garden at Rhodesville was dedicated last week.
Community and Economic Development Director Delpha Very said the seed money for the garden came from an Urban Garden and Open Space grant through the state DEEP.
It included $20,000 in grant money matched with $$11,000 worth of in-kind donations, totalling $31,000.
Very said the town's Department of Public Works cut out trees, scooped out dirt and put in new soil donated by Rawson Materials.
Still to come will be a perennial garden thanks to Kevin Bieger's Eagle Scout project and basketball for the kids of the neighborhood.
"We involved the neighbors in the planning stage and they all said something for the kids would be great," Very said.
A fence for the garden bed area is also on its way.
The garden is named for Dr. Robert R. Johnston, a local dentist and father of former state representative Kevin Johnston.
Rosie Gallant of Woodstock, a volunteer working with the Food Policy Council, has worked right along with the project. "We'd like to get people in Putnam involved in gardening," she said.
Garden space is $15 for a plot and the season is from May through October. Very said Day Kimball Healthcare has a bed, as does the Putnam Town Hall.
Two beds will cater to the handicapped and the Putnam school system is looking into building a small "Kids' pizza garden."
The Killingly schools' agriculture program is also involved. Gardening mentors stand ready to help would-be gardeners.
One gardener who wouldn't need mentoring is Christian Suggs. He got the idea growing with a cabbage. Linda J. Colangelo, Education and Communications coordinator of the Northeast District Department of Health, at the dedication June 21, said in 2010 Suggs was trying to grow a cabbage, named Hamelton to try to win a scholarship from the Bonnie Cabbage Company. The cabbage kept outgrowing its pots and he wished he had growing space. He ended up with a small section next to his driveway and Hamelton didn't grow big enough.
Colangelo called Delpha Very to ask about the status of the community garden project on Smith Street.
She said "Christian's situation renewed discussions among our HealthQuest Northeast Connecticut partners about the creation of a food policy council and the need for community gardens in northeastern Connecticut. HealthQuest is a regional health and wellness partnership working to make northeast Connecticut a healthier place to live, work, learn, and play."
She added, "There are many people from planners to planters… who had a hand in creating this site some of us kick up some dirt, others shoveled some dirt …but I give credit to the good intentions and the kind heart of Christian Suggs for helping us to start a conversation about Hamelton …the cabbage that didn’t win a prize, but whose spirit grew up to be a community. And that makes all of us winners. Thank you, Christian."