Mainly sunny. High 62F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Mostly clear skies. Low 39F. Winds light and variable.

Browen Morgan tells Monroe County Family Connection about plans for a community garden near the site of the new High Falls fire station.

Browen Morgan tells Monroe County Family Connection about plans for a community garden near the site of the new High Falls fire station.

Bronwen Morgan presented her vision for a community garden in High Falls at the December Monroe County Family Connection meeting. Family Connection created and sustains a small community garden with raised beds on county property where the county jail once stood, near Monroe County Clubhouse and the Monroe County Library, and Morgan asked for support from the group in sharing information and materials as members of the High Falls community begin a similar endeavor.

Morgan said the High Falls community garden is planned near the site of the former Falls View Restaurant. Monroe County bought the property to build a new fire station, and commissioners have approved using a part of it for a community garden. Morgan said commissioner George Emami, who represents High Falls as part of his district, was very receptive to the idea when it was presented to him in the summer. He initially planned to allocate some county funds to the project, but since then the commissioners have found themselves with less discretionary funds. That hasn’t affected approval of using the site as a community garden, however.

Morgan said that currently there is no water available at the site; therefore, she is focusing on low water methods in starting the garden. Kelly E. Dunn and Don Walker have committed to volunteer work to start the garden, and they were present at the Family Connection meeting to add support and answer questions about the plans.

“This is a completely community effort,” said Morgan. “We are all local people, invested in the community. We are driving the garden.”

She said there are many benefits in a community garden, including addressing the scarcity of healthy food, creating a venue for exercise, stress relief and confidence boosting. Morgan said one of her goals is to increase the sense of community pride in High Falls. She said she wants to improve relationships between High Falls and the bigger community.

“It will be something we can point to in opposition to the negative image of High Falls,” she said.

Morgan has gathered information and various plans for building low water demand raised beds, including hugelkultur and sheet mulching. She said commissioner Eddie Rowland has offered to donate cardboard for the layered mulching, and Dana Renard of Monroe County Recycling is excited about sharing materials from the recycling center that can be used in the raised beds.

Plans for the garden include composting kitchen scraps and plant materials onsite and collecting coffee grounds from local businesses to use as amendment to the beds. She said she is already using composted dirt from the county landfill. Morgan said a friend of hers who used the hugelkultur method only watered her garden three times last summer.

Morgan and others working on the High Falls community garden are planning eight 8 ft. X 4 ft. raised beds, a table for container gardening and a tool shed as well as three 4 ft x 4 ft. compost piles. Other items she hopes to have for the garden are a table for raised container gardening, two rain barrels, a deer fence, a compost barrel and a storage box for tools. She posted a wish list on Amazon, and some things have dropped off the list.

Scott Bogulski, who took leadership in building the Family Connection community garden, said he estimates it costs about $1,000 to build 10 raised beds. He said Monroe County Recreation Department has promised to donate fencing it no longer needs. He said a big part of the expense is lumber to build the raised bed boxes.

Morgan said she would like to have something growing this spring to boost interest in the garden, but she can’t ask for donations extensively because she isn’t a non-profit. Jeff Holcomb, chair of Family Connection board of directors, said he thinks it is a good opportunity for Family Connection to get involved and fits well with Family Connection’s purpose. He asked that Morgan get prices on specific items she needs and bring an itemized request to the Family Connection board.

Bogulski suggested donating $840 to build six raised beds and also donating a full bucket of screws that are left from work on the Family Connection community garden. There was an affirmative vote to do so. Bogulski said the High Falls community garden should operate as a satellite of Family Connection while it gets started until it forms its own board of directors. Holcomb said that would fit with Family Connection’s annual plan, which includes addressing food scarcity in Monroe County.

Morgan said one plan for the High Falls Community Garden this spring is to sell bedding plants and put the funds back into the garden. She invited those who would like to work in the garden to join the effort.

We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Would you like to receive our daily news?  Signup today!