Bath Housing and the Sagadahoc Chapter of Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association have announced the 23rd annual Bath Housing planting day will take place on Saturday, May 29.
Gardeners Association volunteers will work with Bath Housing residents to prep and plant vegetable beds across the city at the Anchorage, Moorings and Seacliff Bath Housing properties.
While the 2020 planting was reduced somewhat due to the pandemic, this year — with vaccines and declining COVID cases — Gardeners Association volunteer Judy Schuppien has hopes for a more typical event.
“Personal interaction has been an important part of this project,” Schuppien said. “I look forward to returning to it.”
Gardeners Association volunteers work with residents who make requests for certain crops or bring their own seedlings to the 1,000 square feet of raised beds across the city.
“Each year, this day speaks to our goal of making ‘health and wellness’ more than just buzzwords in Bath,” Bath Housing Executive Director Debora Keller said. “We offer a number of services alongside the organic gardening project that help us foster food security.”
“Beyond the healthy vegetables and good exercise, there is benefit to having a piece of ground to work, however small,” Schuppien said. “A number of the residents have gardening experience, and look back fondly to the time when they planted their own gardens.”
The Sagadahoc Chapter of Gardeners Association contributes funds to some school garden projects and also helps fund the Merrymeeting Gleaners’ tools and equipment. Bath Housing has benefitted from Merrymeeting Gleaners in the way of surplus harvests for their residents, in addition to their own locally grown produce.
For more information, call Executive Director Debora Keller at (207) 443-3116, or visit www.bathhousing.org. To learn more about the Gardeners Association, visit mofga.org.
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