Give Gardening a Try at Oasis Community Garden

Fresh, locally grown produce can be hard to come by, but the Oasis Community Garden in downtown Ogden aims to change that perception by offering an outlet to residents who want to try their hand at raising their own healthy food.

Prospective gardeners can reserve one of the 38 plots to create their own garden for $25. Or, if you don’t like weeding, you can pick from the small orchard, two herb gardens, and berry patches that are also open to the public. Interested individuals should visit the garden to get pamphlets on the bulletin board there or visit:  

http://juniorleagueogden.org/

https://www.facebook.com/jlo.oasis/

Oasis Community Garden was started about 10 years ago by the Junior League of Ogden. Though the garden is still considered a work in progress, dedicated volunteers strive to improve it. The Junior League of Ogden is also responsible for other health-minded events such as Dental Days, a way for underprivileged individuals to receive teeth cleaning.

Joanisa Tenreiro is the garden manager of Oasis Community Garden. She is originally from Florida and moved to Utah three years ago for the mountains and snow. She currently works at Waterfall Canyon Academy, an organization dedicated to serving the community’s youth population. She typically works in the garden for ten hours a week and is very passionate about it.

The purpose of the garden is to provide to community members access to healthy and affordable food. Irrigation drips are used so that gardeners don’t have to water their plot every day. People of all ages are encouraged to get involved, especially families looking for fun ways to involve their children in learning about and choosing healthy food.

“You can grow whatever you want, as long as it’s legal,” Joanisa says, listing squash, tomatoes, corn, radishes, carrots, and kale among the wide variety of vegetables commonly grown there.

Oasis Community Garden has some rules. First of all, chemicals and pesticides are not allowed as they are trying to keep the garden as organic as possible. She said these contaminate the soil and groundwater that supply the food. Gardeners must also keep their plot well maintained and weed free. Dogs and other pets should be kept on leashes.

Other events also take place at the garden. There are workshops on the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m.. Individuals can learn about such topics as permaculture, which Joanisa describes as “how to garden in sync with the earth.” In August, the Oasis Summer Nights concert series takes place each Thursday at 6 p.m., and also features a mini farmer’s market and live music. There are volunteer days for individuals to help work at the garden.

In order to better serve the community, Oasis Community Garden members are working to create raised beds for elderly and disabled individuals. The project has been started by installing black poles (pictured) on the property and they hope to complete it as soon as possible.

Joanisa says the biggest benefit of the garden is for people who might not have access to land can get it at Oasis to grow healthy food. She truly believes gardening is not only good for health in a nutrition sense, but it is good for the soul.

“It is a great way to have a connection with the earth, get your hands in the soil, and get dirty,” she says.

Joanisa herself was once afraid to garden as she didn’t want to kill a plant. Over time and a lot of hands-on practice, she overcame her fear and realized that killing a plant is just part of the cycle and it can become compost for other plants to grow.

 “It’s okay to fail sometimes, just pick yourself up and learn,” she says.