Blaine-based Children’s Giving Garden fosters community growth

Since 2012, Blaine’s Christ Episcopal Church has provided kids a space to dig, plant, water and harvest plants of all varieties.

Volunteers installed raised beds in 2014. Photos courtesy of Wendy Kunst Massey.

Located at 382 Boblett Street, the Children’s Giving Garden opened in 2012 in a 10-by-10-foot plot at Christ Episcopal Church. When it first started, project planners said they produced about 15 pounds of produce per harvest, all for donation.

Since then, the garden has doubled in size and now features raised beds. All produce is harvested and donated to the Blaine Boys & Girls Club as part of the organization’s nutrition program. Since the beginning, volunteers have donated more than 500 pounds of fresh produce.

A volunteer harvests produce.

To celebrate their progress and solicit interest from the public, project organizers are hosting an ice cream social from noon to 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 4. The free event is sponsored by a $2,000 grant from the Whatcom Community Foundation’s Project Neighborly.

Remaining funds from the Project Neighborly grant will be used to renovate the garden in an effort to increase harvest and reduce maintenance. Project organizers hope to add two more raised beds to the garden and build a new patio with seating, among other things.

“The goal is to create neighborliness by introducing the local community to the garden, and inviting visitor’s ideas and input, as well as assistance with seasonal maintenance,” read a statement from project organizers about the upcoming ice cream social.

“With a generous grant from the Whatcom Community Foundation’s Project Neighborly, and additional support from the Bellingham Food Cooperative, Edaleen Dairy, Pacific Building Center, and TW Landscaping, the garden has already begun the 2017 growing season.”

To learn more about the Children’s Giving Garden, visit christchurchblaine.org.