Community garden shows robust growth

The Community Garden in Cathlamet's Erickson Park has grown robust thanks to hard work, long hours and the expertise of several local master gardeners, volunteers and even the occasional hand from local inmates on work release.

It's so lush this year, it was added to the Cathlamet Woman's Club Tour of Homes and Gardens on August 8.

The master gardeners have been trying to improve the soil since the garden was established in 2010 and it is finally starting to pay off.

Towering sunflowers grow where they were planted, seeds dropped by hungry birds on the wing. The corn is reaching for the sky as well, more than six feet tall.

There are 23 individual plots and nearly all of them were requested, put to use and cared for by local gardeners.

Master gardeners use a third of the garden to grow fresh produce for the Helping Hand food bank. They grow the usual things like onions, carrots and lettuce, but they also have a little fun planting new things. This year they had Armenian cucumbers and Japanese eggplants.

Demonstration projects dot the garden. Kim Sharp put in a Hugelkultur composting system, which is topped by petunias. The system creates its own moisture and heat, improving the health of the soil and prolonging the growing season.

There is a new Out of Africa Keyhole garden, which is still under construction. According to a leaflet provided by the gardeners, this garden finds its origin in arid regions of Africa, where they struggle with poor soil and a lack of rain. The garden was developed to teach children and families in Africa how to grow a kitchen garden and add more vegetables to their diet. It is self fertilizing and self watering, much like the Hugelkultur composting system.

The Community Garden also has a Pollinator Garden filled with flowers to attract bees.

The Town of Cathlamet donated the space and continues to donate water. This year, the Woman's Club helped provide a drip system in the area designated for food bank donations.

The garden relies on donations of materials, labor and money. They have a plant sale in the spring to raise money.