The new community service garden at Springfield Oaks County Park has produced more than 5,150 pounds of food for the needy, with more to come.
The five-acre garden, located on seven acres of county park land off of Andersonville Road, has provided squash, tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers and zucchini to the Food Bank of Oakland County and St. Joseph Episcopal Church in Royal Oak.
In addition to feeding people, the garden provides an outlet for offenders to work off sentences via the Weekend Alternatives for Misdemeanants program.
‘We estimate there have been 1,436 offenders at the garden over a 45-day period,? according to Barbara M Hankey, manager of the Oakland County Community Corrections Division. ‘That gives us about 8,610 hours spent in the garden. They weed, water and pick produce. There are still plenty of veggies growing and the pumpkins have yet to be harvested.?
The community service garden, the brainchild of district judges Michael Batchik and Dana Fortinberry, was first located on Independence Township-owned land, and produced 12,500 pounds of food in its first year. Protests from local residents, however, forced the project to seek another location.
The new location has been successful because of the partnership of the county parks, community corrections, 52-2 District Court, the Oakland County 4-H Fair Association, the MSU Cooperative Extension Service Master Gardeners and the Clarkston Rotary Club.
In addition to food items, the garden is expected to provide perennial flowers, shrubs and trees for the county parks system.
Long-term goals will be helped by the recent announcement of a used greenhouse to be donated by Bordine’s Nursery. The 30-by-158-foot building donation came through the efforts of Bruce Bordine, a member of the Clarkston Rotary Club.
There was a question of financing the disassembling the building and reassembling at Springfield Oaks. Additional funds were needed for refurbishing the structure and providing heaters, canopy and other accessories.
The Clarkston Rotary came through with an assistance package. Harold Wiederhold, a retired builder, and his Rotary friends pitched in to disassemble the structure free of charge. Mary Sloan-Lichty, past Rotary president, agreed to provide funds leftover from her 2002-2003 Presidential Project to help pay for the remaining tasks needed to make the greenhouse operational.
Officials said the greenhouse will help give an early start to spring plantings.