For the City-Times

As the summer days roll in, the Stevens Point Area Neighborhood Gardens (SPANG), a project of Golden Sands Resources Conservation & Development (RC&D) Council, Inc. is full of activity as neighborhood gardeners fill their plots with plants.

Megan Hogfeldt, the Land Use Planning intern with Golden Sands RC&D from UWSP’s College of Natural Resources, sought out donated plants for this summer season.  Layne Cozzolino, the Executive Director of Central Rivers Farmshed, donated the leftover plants from Farmshed’s annual Growing Collective Sale and suggested contacting Tammy and Chris Lazare, owners of Nutty Acres in Stevens Point.  Nutty Acres holds an annual spring plant sale and also accepts used plastic pots for recycling.

Farmshed donated 4 flats of vegetable plants and Nutty Acres donated 12 flats of vegetable plants and flowers.  Thanks to these local businesses, Golden Sands RC&D was able to provide gardeners with plants.  Hogfeldt is planting the left over plants in the unrented garden beds and will donate the produce to an AmeriCorps team that is being hosted by Golden Sands RC&D this summer for community projects in Portage and Adams Counties.

Since 2007, Golden Sands RC&D has been providing neighborhood gardening spaces on vacant city lots that are leased from the City of Stevens Point.  To keep the neighborhood gardens operating, annual maintenance and repairs are required.  Last year a fence was installed at the Third Street garden with a grant from Community Foundation of Central WI.  This year Golden Sands RC&D constructed and replaced raised garden beds at the Franklin Street Neighborhood Gardens.  Hogfeldt held two work days and coordinated the replacement of four of the ten raised garden beds.  Community volunteers Lindsey Karls, Reggie McCafferty, Mike Glodowski, and Jayne Hogfeldt assisted with the construction of the raised garden beds.

For more information contact Golden Sands RC&D at (715) 343-6215 or [email protected].