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Recently constructed garden beds sit in a new community garden in Spanish Fork on Friday, April 14, 2023.

Courtesy Tiffany Miller

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Tasha Miller and Adia Davis volunteer to help build a community garden in Spanish Fork on Friday, April 14, 2023.

Courtesy Tiffany Miller

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Recently constructed garden beds sit in a new community garden in Spanish Fork on Friday, April 14, 2023.

Courtesy Tiffany Miller

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Residents in Spanish Fork and surrounding communities are coming together to build the city’s first community garden, which will be open to the public by the end of this week. Operating under Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo, the garden will allow residents to grow their own healthy food for a small charge.

“We charge a low fee and provide the land, tools, water and seeds so members of the community can grow their own nutritious food,” said Hillary Whitaker, who manages the garden at 789 W. Center St.. “This is a great way to add fresh food into your household, improve your mental health and make friends in the community.”

For $20, residents can rent a raised bed for the growing season. This not only provides an economical way to obtain fresh food but also a place to grow it and a community of gardeners who can give advice and ensure residents’ produce grows well. In addition to seeds for standard fruits and vegetables, patrons will have access to perennial herbs, strawberries and a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch in the fall.

This garden is the fifth of its kind to open under the nonprofit organization, with four other locations currently operating in Provo. The gardens are open to all Utah County residents upon signing a liability waiver, and all skill levels are welcome.

The garden is being put together with resources obtained entirely through donations. Spanish Fork City provided the land and water, while The Dugout, Lion’s Pride Insurance and Hillcrest Bank provided enough funds for the purchase of a shed.

Other donors of funds, materials, discounts or volunteer hours included Java Junkie, MVP Sports, Maple Creek Mill, Ainge Drywall, Lowe’s, Laughing Owl Greenhouse, Wasatch Pallet, Jmart, Old Mill Landscaping and Spanish Fork Scout Troop 72.

Tiffany Miller, the new garden’s committee director, said the idea for a community garden sprang from student interest.

“I was teaching gardening classes at the Spanish Fork Public Library and one of the patrons asked me if we had a community garden here in Spanish Fork,” she said. “Since there wasn’t and a few people showed interest in one, I decided we should get one started.”

The Spanish Fork community garden committee was then formed last fall and grew to 11 members this spring. Miller has been gardening since 2014, when she first took the Utah State University Master Gardener course and discovered her passion for the hobby.

In order to maintain her master gardener status, she has to volunteer at least 30 hours each year, but she easily exceeds this minimum.

“I have been volunteering and taking classes at the Thanksgiving Point Ashton Gardens every summer since 2014, so it will be nice to get my hours in closer to home in the Spanish Fork garden. My side yard has eight raised beds where I grow tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and more,” Miller said. “This apparently wasn’t enough for me since I took on a project to build a community one. I love the magic of watching a seed sprout and then grow into a giant plant and eating the food that comes from that.”

So far, 48 of the 58 raised beds in the garden have been built and filled in with soil and chips by volunteers. The remaining beds are expected to be finished by the grand opening. Forty beds are available for rent, and six beds will be dedicated to growing food for Tabitha’s Way Local Food Pantry.

The local library will also have four beds that will be used for their cooking, food insecurity, seed saving, harvesting, preserving and other gardening classes. Excess produce grown in the garden will be donated to Tabitha’s Way.

The Spanish Fork community garden will hold its grand opening from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The ribbon cutting ceremony will start at 10:15 a.m., with classes for kids and adults throughout the day.

Adult classes include a composting class at 10:30 a.m., a seed starting and soil prep class at 11:30 a.m., a seed bomb demonstration at noon and a USU gardening class at 1 p.m. Kids classes include planting a bed at 10:30 a.m., library story time at 11 a.m. and a pollinator class at 12:30 p.m.

Other ongoing activities at the event will include face painting, hula hoop bubbles, music, rock painting and adding handprints to a section of the new library. Food trucks will also be present at the event and will donate a percentage of sales to the garden, including Jurassic Tacos, Kai Pops, Slice-A-Pizza and Squeezed Lemonade.

After the grand opening, the garden will be open to patrons for gardening and events all week during daylight hours. A hoop house will be added in the fall to create warmer temperatures for food to grow in as the weather cools down.

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