Mayor Jackie Biscupski is set to commemorate the first harvest of the local Liberty Wells Community Garden on Tuesday, August 30. The site hosts 44 plots for gardeners, including four refugee families from Sudan and Bhutan. The program, “New Roots,” established by a partnership between Wasatch Community Gardens and the International Rescue Committee, helps refugee families settle into the Salt Lake Valley. The Liberty Wells Community Garden is just one of 13 garden sites that allows refugee families to honor agricultural traditions and feel at home in Utah.
“Liberty Wells neighbors, including some of our newest resident refugee families, have come together to share knowledge and friendship, which produced this beautiful and sustainable garden,” Mayor Biskupski said.
The new garden is so popular that their 44 plots are full and they have a wait-list of 29 families.
“As a community health nurse, I’ve seen the positive health impacts of communities coming together to help one another,” said Britt Vanderhoof, who spends hours at the garden each week. “As much as I love the taste of food fresh from the garden, I have enjoyed even more seeing the community around the Liberty Wells Community Garden come together to help grow this amazing garden into what it is today.”
Utah, due to its elevated climate, experiences harvest later than many other places around the nation. August is the perfect time of year to indulge in fresh and local peaches, blackberries, raspberries and melons.
The press conference will be held Tuesday, August 30th at 10 a.m. in the Liberty Wells Community Garden located at 1700 South 700 East. For more information please visit: www.slcgreen.com/communitygardens.
-Brieanna Olds
