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When we read a post from Craig Goodwin on Twitter about a community garden that was being started in the Millwood area of Spokane, we were eager to help out. Although the work day was scheduled to be the first week we were here at Moosicorn, it gave us a chance to offer help to the community and meet some cool people, so we signed up. We’re glad we did because we were able to take part in the beginning of a wonderful project.

The Pumpkin Patch Community Garden was once a vacant lot. Before it was beaten to a pulp by construction crews widening the Argonne Bridge, it was a prosperous pumpkin patch (hence the name). Elmer Williams and later Bob Critchfield farmed the lot located on the southeast corner of Argonne and Maringo. Millwood area neighbors and the Millwood Presbyterian Church came up with the idea to make this empty lot a member of the community again. They worked with the Inland Empire Paper Company (who owns the land) and received generous donations from local business like Dewdrop Sprinklers & Landscaping, Wittkopf Landscape Supplies, Northwest Seed & Pet and Idaho Forest Group. 

On Saturday, April 10th 2010, we saw the beginning – or rebirth, really – of the Pumpkin Patch. We acknowledged the site’s history, picked up trash, constructed raised beds and filled them with rich soil. The Pumpkin Patch Community Garden will only grow from here. Soon it will be a place for the community to grow their own healthy organic food. Organizers also plan to plant enough food to share with Second Harvest‘s Plant a Row for the Hungry Program.

We are so pleased that we were able to help this cause. It was inspiring to see a group of people-most strangers before that day-working together. So here’s to the Pumpkin Patch, people working together and community gardens everywhere!

To learn more about the Pumpkin Patch Community Garden, visit: http://www.millwoodpc.org/Mission/PumpkinPatchCommunityGarden.aspx