Great Growing Season

Courtney Hasser and Karl Nieschburg

Emily Montoya passes the vegetables

Stalking the wild squash

Squash, cucumbers, cantaloupes, green peppers, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers and other tasty vegetables were on someone’s menu recently. This past Wednesday, August 7, Karl Nieschburg, Liliana Garcia, Courtney Hasser and Miriam Chavira, employees from High Plains Community Health Center went to check the crop at the community garden just south of the center, and came away with plenty of fresh produce.

The garden was planted in April with participating residents staking out and caring for their own plot behind the garden fence. Soaker hoses connected all the four by four-foot individual squares to keep them watered through the summer, and there was plenty of sunlight and warmth the past few months to let vegetables grow.

Folks visit the garden to check on their crop’s progress and harvest what they want when it’s ready to go to the table. Emily Montoya, HPCHC dietitian, who was selecting some vegetables, said there’s room to grow, as far as expansion of the entire complex is concerned. The garden measures about 50 by 80 feet, and a picket fence keeps the local deer herd and other creatures from turning the garden into their personal restaurant. Montoya said several hundred pounds of vegetables have already been donated to various groups in the community so far this summer.

By Russ Baldwin