Biddeford Community Gardens is looking for people to make donations via seedmoney.org to help provide funds to build new raised beds at Pierson’s Lane Children’s Garden. The beds there are 10 years old and deteriorating. Courtesy Photo
BIDDEFORD — The raised garden beds at Pierson’s Lane Children’s Garden are deteriorating and now there’s a quest to replace and expand the 11 beds installed a decade ago.
“This little garden is such an important part of our community in that we teach kids 2 to 12 how to grow food in a safe, healthy environment, while having fun in nature,” said Biddeford Community Garden Director Holly Culloton in an email.
A fundraiser was launched to raise $2,600, with the help of a challenge grant through seedmoney.org. Those who wish can donate through the online link at: https://donate.seedmoney.org/7836/piersons-lane-childrens-garden
Biddeford Community Garden has until noon Dec. 15 to meet the $1,300 fundraising goal.
“In essence, this little garden is now ten years old,” she said. “Built with Community Development Block Grant funding in 2012, over time, the garden has helped many kids from the neighborhood learn about gardening and growing food in a safe, fun, hands-on environment. Master gardener volunteers work closely with the kids as they learn about soils, pollinators, garden pests, and how to plant, nurture, and harvest vegetables. Pre-covid, we have taken the kids on field trips to Dragonfly Meadow Farm and the kids were able to cook tasty meals and snacks from the veggies they have grown through a local restaurant kitchen.”
The grant money will be used to cover the cost of lumber, soil, and compost for 11 new raised beds, she said.
Seedmoney.org, a nonprofit, was started in 2003 by Scarborough resident Roger Doiron to promote home vegetable gardening but over time has shifted to public food garden projects. These include community gardens, school gardens, food bank gardens, homeless shelter gardens and senior gardens.
Open to all food garden projects located anywhere in the world, the Seed Money Challenge campaign runs each year from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15. Participating projects use the Seedmoney.org free crowdfunding platform and support services to raise funds from within their community and qualify for challenge grants. According to information on the Seed Money website, 370 grants are available.
Pierson’s Lane Children’s Garden is located within a children’s playground in a neighborhood comprised of young families, new immigrant families, and young working adults, Culloton noted in the Seed Money Challenge.
In addition to learning about being part of a community, through the garden children learn the importance of soil makeup; how to propagate and plant seeds; why pollinators are critical to plant development and how to attract them; why worms and other beneficial insects are essential to soil and compost; why growing food is important and healthy; and recipes for home preparation of the food they’ve grown, she said.
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