The idea of garden-fresh food is definitely trendy right now, with restaurants touting “clean” food and grocery stores catering to those who want to purchase organic food. The actual physical act of gardening however, is something that fewer and fewer people seem to be doing. Trenton’s local community garden not only provides fresh fruits and vegetables, but also supplies an opportunity for something just as important – a connection with both nature and other people.
Tyler and Ashlen Busick are the coordinators of the community garden, located at the corner of 18th Street and Harris Avenue, behind the First Christian Church, which provides the land for the garden. Ashlen grew up on a farm and Tyler, while not being raised on a farm, comes from a family of 10 and spent a lot of time in the “massive” family garden. After all the chores they “endured” while growing up, one would think they’d stay as far from a garden as possible. Their desire for a higher quality of food – and life – led to their involvement in the garden.
“As we got older, we kind of developed a passion for good, healthy and safe food,” Ashlen explained, saying they knew when they moved to Trenton four years ago that they wanted to be involved in a community garden project here.
One can find nearly every vegetable you can think of at the garden, as well as fruits, berries and herbs. What is also there, but perhaps less obvious, is the opportunity to fulfill the garden’s motto: “Uniting the Community in Growing Something Good.” The Busick family and the small group that joins them in working in the garden are hoping to do more than provide good food.
“Our goal, from the very beginning, has been for people to come out and be together, to work together, to build something together,” Ashlen explained.
The garden provides an opportunity for those who don’t have the space for their own plot to be involved in gardening and is also a great place for the inexperienced gardener to learn as they go. Children in particular seem to enjoy gardening and the Busicks’ two young children, Liam and Alivia, are already avid gardeners.
“Liam can already name about any type of vegetable,” Ashlen said. “He can come out here and pick his zucchini. He knows how his food is grown and how it’s picked and I think that makes him more likely to eat it.”
Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops have taken part in the garden, as have some youth groups and adult groups. The land includes a children’s bean pole “teepee” and plans are under way to construct a handicapped accessible gardening area that will include raised beds.
Six-year-old Wyatt Spurgeon and his three-year-old brother, Kasen joined their mother, Jessica, in the garden one recent morning.
“Spending time at The Garden with my sons was a fun way to learn and be outside,” Jessica said. “Ashlen and Tyler were welcoming and took time to show us all the parts of the garden and what to do. To come home with bags full of the vegetables we picked was rewarding!”
Another benefit of gardening, according to Ashlen, is the physical benefits it provides.
“Gardening is fantastic exercise!” she said. “We’re in the best shape!”
That’s not because of weeding, however, as wood chips, donated by Trenton Municipal Utilities and KCP&L, are used in the no-till garden. The wood chips not only keep the weeds down, they help maintain moisture in the soil, something that has been very important during this dry, hot summer. In addition to TMU and KCP&L, many other entities have helped get the garden going and keep it going, including Orscheln, Barnes Greenhouses, Grundy County Lumber and Brook Kreatz’s seventh grade Introduction to Agriculture class at Trenton Middle School, which started hundreds of plants in the school greenhouse.
For those who physically cannot garden or who don’t have the time (or inclination), the produce can be purchased for a donation to the garden, with Ashley noting that they often have $5 bags of produce available. While the good food is healthy for the body, Ashlen said actually working in the garden is good for the soul.
“There’s something about being out in nature. So many of us have just lost the connection to nature, to the soil that connects us to it,” she said.
Those who wish to work in the garden have several opportunities to do so each week from mid-May through August. The hours are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 to 10 a.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. as well as from 8 to 11 a.m. on Saturday.
For more information, go to Facebook and search for The Garden-Trenton MO or contact the Busicks at [email protected] or 660-342-1655.