The newly established Manomet Community Garden at St. Bonaventure recently harvested its first crop of lettuce to supply the St. Bonaventure food pantry and Second Parish food pantry. Residents of the village of Manomet and local businesses have partnered with the Manomet Community Garden Association, inc. to create a community garden which contains fourteen raised beds for Manomet residents, two wheelchair accessible beds, and a one-thousand square foot in ground garden dedicated to supplying the two Manomet food pantries with fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. In addition, the garden also includes six fruit trees, a pollinator garden, a number of berry and herb bushes, as well as a pumpkin patch.
The garden was created from a wish of a lifelong Plymouth resident, Debbie Remlinger. Ms. Remlinger approached me as a member of the Manomet Village Steering Committee and former Precinct 6 chairperson, with her idea. She had observed the animosity and callousness people seemed to be exhibiting towards each other; not only throughout the nation, but even here, in her own town. Her words seemed to echo what I and so many others had also observed. Debbie recommended an endeavor to help alleviate this; a community garden where people can work together in an atmosphere of friendship, a garden where personal interactions can enhance the already closeknit community of Manomet.
I presented the idea to the Manomet Village Steering Committee, which embraced the proposal. After working towards establishing the Manomet Community Healing Garden, the steering committee was informed that the town charter did not provide for steering committees to enter into such an endeavor. However, the idea was too good not to pursue, and along with garden educator Carole Geurin, Cindy Goss and Bud Tompkins, I continued to press forward on our own until finding a willing partner in St. Bonaventure Parish.
With St. Bonaventure’s blessing and generous use of their land, the garden finally had a home. With the unexpected cuts in the federal budget for the upcoming year, cutting the programs that pay farmers to give produce to food banks, local food pantries may soon be hard pressed to provide fresh vegetables to many seniors, financially challenged, and those most vulnerable among us. This endeavor will hopefully lessen the challenges they face.
However, the organizers don’t want to stop at just growing fruits, vegetables and flowers. We also plan to provide seminars in gardening, nutrition and even cooking classes for members. In addition, we are also hoping to hold a number of festivals and events at the garden to bring the people of Manomet together to celebrate their wonderful community.
It’s our belief that as much as this garden is to grow produce, its ultimate goal is to bring people together.
– Bill Arienti
Arienti is president of Manomet Community Garden Association Inc.