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University’s community garden helps feed neighborhood residents
By Julie Filby
Community gardens provide neighbors with food, fellowship and fun. For the second consecutive season, some 30 people are working in a garden at the main campus of Regis University in the Berkeley neighborhood of northwest Denver.
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Photo by James Baca/DCR |
“We have more students this year,” said Joe Kottenstette, a founding member of the steering committee, “and I think getting young people involved in organic gardening is neat.
“It’s a good skill to have … people need access to good food and one of the best ways to make that happen is to teach them how to grow their own.”
The 200-foot-by-65-foot garden is on the northwest corner of Regis’ property on Lowell Boulevard between 52nd and 53rd avenues. Half of the space is dedicated to 24 11-foot-by-16-foot plots filled with vegetables and fruits, while the other half is a common space with picnic tables, native plants and herb beds.
Kottenstette, 55, lives in the Berkeley neighborhood and worships at Regis Chapel. He has been involved with the garden since its planning stages.
“We invited (a guest speaker) to our neighborhood association meeting to talk about community gardens,” said Kottenstette. “We got really excited about the idea.”
At the same time a group of Regis University students expressed interest in starting a garden. A committee formed and after the initially proposed location fell though, the Regis site was coordinated with Denver Urban Gardens.
“It took a few years but it finally came together,” said Kottenstette. “We are very grateful to Regis.”
Three-quarters of the garden employs the permaculture technique, a method of developing agricultural ecosystems to be sustainable and limit the use of fossil fuel. The permaculture beds at Regis use deep mulch planting and drip lines.
“It’s better for the environment in a lot of ways because you don’t destroy the soil with roto-tilling,” said Kottenstette, “and you don’t use as much water because of the thick mulch.
“It’s an extremely effective way to garden.”
Community gardens can also be a ministry to serve the poor. Last year produce was donated to the nearby Comfort Cafe, a pay-as-you-can restaurant; The Senior Hub in Adams County; and Hyland Hills Have a Heart Food Bank. Organizers expect produce will be donated again this year.
David Ward, 55, parishioner at St. Martin de Porres in Boulder and founder of N.I.C.E. (Network of Interfaith Compassionate Entrepreneurs), has been active in this ministry for 12 years. He has helped start 15 community gardens, including the one at Regis, and is involved in the Catholic Worker movement.
The Catholic Worker movement was co-founded in 1933 during the Great Depression by social activists Peter Maurin and Dorothy Day. It’s grounded in the belief of every person’s God-given dignity and best known for houses of hospitality in low-income urban areas. There are more than 200 communities in the country, including one in Denver at 2420 Welton St., and an estimated 20 Catholic Worker farms.
“Our goal is to start as many gardens as possible,” said Ward, “with the expansion of the ‘city farm belt’ concept being the objective.”
Ward is working with an interfaith alliance, Catholics Resurrecting Omnifaith Worker Neighborhood (CROWN), to develop a hybrid entity that combines the concept of a rural Catholic Worker Farm and an urban Catholic Worker House.
“We need to provide food and companionship and all the important things that nourish our lives within walking distance,” he said in explaining the importance of a neighborhood farm concept.
Ward, with other CROWN representatives, will attend a conference, “Growing Roots: Peter Maurin and Economics,” July 17-23 at the New Hope Catholic Worker Farm and Agronomic University outside Dubuque, Iowa. The event will feature daily lecture and reading, along with manual labor on the 28-acre farm.
CROWN is currently researching alternative sites in the Denver area for a neighborhood farm.
Community gardens are always in needs of volunteers, particularly at harvest time to avoid wasting food. For more information, visit www.nice-world.org, call 303-499-LOVE (5683) or email davidward@ nice-world.org.
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