Mukilteo Community Garden’s 15th birthday

Celebrating the past, looking to the future

By David Pan

Mukilteoeditor@yourbeacon.net

The Mukilteo Community Garden isn’t resting on its laurels.

In the 15 years since its founding, the garden has donated 26,000 pounds of organic produce to the Mukilteo and Lynnwood food banks. When renters sign up, they agree to volunteer 12 hours per bed toward the food bank beds and the overall garden.

Education also remains important to the garden’s mission, as seminars and special events are held during the gardening season. WSU Master Gardeners and other horticultural mentors share their knowledge with novice gardeners and others in the community.

The garden welcomes volunteers from small businesses, other nonprofits, and students. Much of the one-on-one mentoring takes place with volunteers, especially during the planting and harvesting of the food bank crops.

“Such a solid foundation was provided back in 2009. We built on that foundation,” said Jeanne Crisp, Mukilteo Community Garden board president. “But there’s a lot more that can be done. There are different kinds of plants to try. There are ways to expand. But I think if we can just keep doing what we’re doing and do more of it, that would be great.”

During the garden’s 15th birthday celebration, Crisp introduced four of its founders – Lynette Gardiner, Lois Brown, Mary Ollenberg, and Bob Dickensheets. Another founder, Ann Ramos, was on a trip to Alaska.

Crisp noted that many people looked at photos of what the garden looked like when it started.

“It was desolate, and it was full of debris, and there were trees that wouldn’t be helpful in a garden,” Crisp said. “So a number of people in the community decided that a garden would be a good thing.”

Every week, rain or shine, the founders had potlucks and recruited other community members, Crisp added. “They started out in the spring of 2009, and by October were donating to the local food bank. So these were some determined people. It just kept going. It never stopped.”

The City owns the land where the garden is; the Mukilteo Community Garden has an operating agreement with the City and also receives a small amount of money.

“It goes to defray some of the costs like utilities, but pretty much we are paying our own bills and raising our own funds,” Crisp said.

The garden has 53 beds, and every year there is a waiting list.

Ollenberg appreciates the work the current volunteers have done in the garden.

“Isn’t it beautiful? It’s wonderful,” she said. “The ones that have continued have done wonderful things. They have worked so hard. We are so fortunate to have them here.”

Ollenberg especially enjoyed planting crops in the spring. Her favorites included spring onions and peas, shelling beans, and scarlet runner beans. The latter produces a beautiful blossom, Ollenberg said.

A novice no more

Two seemingly random events converged to turn Victor Cano from someone who knew absolutely nothing about growing vegetables and flowers into a passionate gardener.

One day, Cano’s young son, Mason, brought home a small sugar snap pea seed from school.

“From there we just started getting more interested,” said Cano, a Navy firefighter stationed in Everett. “So we bought more seeds here and there. And then we took a walk on the trail.”

The Canos wandered by the Mukilteo Community Garden and learned it rented plots; Cano signed up and eventually, he was able to get his own garden bed.

“So just from a sugar snap pea, it just grew,” Cano said. “A seed in a cup and now we have pumpkins and marigolds and onions.”

Cano lives five minutes away. During hot weather, he’s tending to his plot daily, making sure all plants are watered. He learned the hard way when he missed watering some marigolds on one of the hottest days of the year –  his flowers did not survive.

In addition to reading about gardening, Cano talked to some of the other gardeners.

“They’re super nice. They’re the ones who taught me about manual pollination,” Cano said. “Because there was a time when we didn’t have as many bees. So you took the male flower and the female flower and just pollinated it together.”

Cano describes gardening as meditative and calming. He finds working in his bed is a great way to relieve stress.

“I come here after a long day and just kind of relax,” he said. “I start pruning my vegetables. … It can get very addicting. You start planting maybe a flower or maybe a seed of a vegetable you might like. Watching it grow is like the best part of it.”

Cano will be stationed in Everett for another two years. After that, he isn’t sure where he’ll be. But wherever Cano ends up, he’ll be gardening.

“We’re probably be doing this for life.”

Future of the Mukilteo Community Garden

Crisp noted a meadow, a play area, and an orchard are called for in the Japanese Gulch Master Plan.

“The garden itself would like to expand because we’re at capacity. More people want beds than we can provide,” she said. “But in order to move to the east, it’s going to take a concerted effort of any number of people because you’ve got invasive weeks that need to be dealt with. It’s City property. The Snohomish Conservative District would probably have an interest in it because it’s kind of a wetland area and it’s invasive weeds.”

If it were to expand, Crisp could see the garden extended by 20 to 30 feet. Crisp also could see the garden changing to an orchard of berry bushes.

“I’m willing to convene a meeting and just have people who are interested in the topic come and talk about it,” Crisp said. “I’m imagining getting a meeting room over at the library and just kind of brainstorming and seeing what people could imagine going on over there.

“That’s as much as I can tell you right now about the future of the Garden. Today, I’m just thrilled that so many people from the community are here to help celebrate what was started 15 years ago.”

For more information on the Mukilteo Community Garden: mukilteogarden.org