Community garden grows under Wong's care

Melissa Wong will soon be leaving the community garden in Cathlamet’s Erickson Park to study Culinary Arts in Portland, but the work she’s begun to engage children should continue to bear fruit.

Wong, who is 23, attended the University of California at Davis and has a degree in Food Science and Sustainable Agriculture.

“I surround myself with food,” she said, laughing.

“As soon as I saw the job (in Cathlamet) I was interested,” Wong said. She is an Americorps volunteer working 32-hours a week to increase healthy food consumption among Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program recipients through the Wahkiakum Health Department.

After growing up in San Francisco and going to school in Davis, getting used to the climate in this rural community has taken some doing.

“Cathlamet has more rain than anyplace I’ve gardened,” Wong said, "and this year has been cooler than most.

“Mostly I’ve learned to have patience and adapt to difficult situations,” Wong said.

Wong had harvested kale and was pleased with the crop of raspberries coming ripe by late July.

But the crows were another matter: “they sit in that tree, I know they wait till we leave to come down,” she said.

Wong said when she came her goal was “to spread the knowledge of gardening, and to let others see the great benefits of starting your own garden.”

Although she was skeptical about the amount of community participation she would get, she has filled all 25 plots.

In addition to first time gardeners, 4-H has a plot, and master gardener Winnie Lowsman from Red Fern Farm on Puget Island has a demonstration garden with herbs. Wong has used tires as planters for tomatoes and for potatoes, for the increased drainage and because they save space.

Eleven-year-old Hailee Wyatt took the last plot and is sharing it with her friend Cheyenne Bailey. Although the girls started late in the season, they are hoping for tomatoes and strawberries.

“This is the first garden I’ve had,” Wyatt said. Then she asked Wong, “How do these weeds get here?”

Participants in the Youth Adventure Program (YAP) have come to the park weekly. The children made wind chimes with sea shells. Several dogs circled providing entertainment. Wong’s partner, Brian Kimball was weeding around raspberries.

Wong sponsored a garden-themed movie, Gnomeo and Juliet and had a potluck at the park. She asks that people who want to garden next year or who are interested in the Friends of the Garden group contact her (or her successor) at the Wahkiakum County Health Department at 795-6207.

The program is measured a success by first time gardeners like Hailee Wyatt, who said, “I love gardens. I love nature, that’s for sure.”