FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — Community members will come together July 17 at a site in Fort Fairfield where generations of area residents took their first breath, and where many today turn to for healthcare services, to celebrate the beginning of a new collaboration.
The spot where two sections of the former Community General Hospital once stood, and an adjacent piece of land owned by The Aroostook Medical Center, will soon be home to two new gardens – one for community members to gather, reflect and enjoy nature; and another where they can work the soil and grow healthy produce for themselves, their families and others.
A sod turning ceremony and unveiling of the conceptual design for the new Fort Fairfield Healing Garden, and a first-time planting celebration for the new Fort Fairfield Community Garden are set for Friday, July 17, as part of an event at the Fort Fairfield Health Center operated by TAMC at 23 High Street. The activity, set to coincide with the annual Maine Potato Blossom Festival, will begin at 4:30 p.m. on the grounds of the health center with a family concert featuring popular children’s entertainer Rick Charrette.
The special musical performance, along with other activity hosted by the team at the health center, will run for one hour. Throughout that time and following a 5:30 p.m. sod turning ceremony and unveiling of the conceptual drawing of the Healing Garden, community members of all ages will be invited to plant seedlings in the brand new community garden. Area residents will also be able to reserve a plot for themselves in the garden as space allows.
“Community gardens are a wonderful way to spend time out of doors, get exercise, learn the joy of growing and eating your own produce, or in sharing that produce. More often than not, friendships develop as well,” added Rayle Reed Ainsworth, co-chair of the project committee.
The community garden is an organic garden that was born through a partnership between TAMC and the town of Fort Fairfield. A citizens’ advisory committee, known as the Community General Hospital Legacy Committee, has been working with hospital and town officials since September 2014 to get the project off the ground. The group has partnered with the local Future Farmers of America chapter, under the direction of adviser Jeannie Fox, to manage the project and oversee the garden.
Fox and her students will be on hand at the July 17 event to lead and assist community members, including children, in planting seedlings and vegetables that will grow in what remains of the current County growing season. They will also speak with interested community members who may want to “adopt a plot” for the current season or next.
Plots, approximately 100 square feet each, will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Member gardeners will be expected to tend to their own plots, including keeping their assigned area weeded and harvested throughout the season. In addition, participants will assist in maintaining the garden fence, paths and common areas.
As part of the mission of the community garden, to help alleviate hunger in the community, space has been set aside to grow produce for Catholic Charities Maine and Families Feeding Families. Members will be asked to donate time each month to plant, tend or harvest vegetables for these charities within the area of the community garden known as the “Common Good” plot that will be managed by the Fort Fairfield FFA.
TAMC has contributed the land for the garden, use of a nearby storage building for tools and other items for gardeners, and administrative and financial support to get the project off the ground. Water access will soon be extended to the garden from the health center building, tilling of the ground at the site has been completed, and compost has been delivered.
Operating costs, including administration and coordination, are expected to come from plot holder fees ($25 for Fort Fairfield residents, $30 for non-residents), donations, grants, and fundraising events, as well as limited administrative support and coordination from TAMC and the Town of Fort Fairfield. For municipal officials, the community garden project is seen as a great extension of other community-wide efforts to improve the quality of life of area residents.
“The community garden project provides a place to grow vegetables for those town residents who do not have space where they live, as well as an opportunity to better know fellow residents. The garden will support a healthy lifestyle of those who participate, both by the produce from the garden and the outdoor activity the garden will provide,” said Town Manager Jim Risner.
