Kneeling down in the Springfield Community Gardens Market Garden, Denise Charlesworth picks up a clump of clover clippings being used as natural mulch.

“You can juice these or put them on your salads,” said Charlesworth. “I love to learn and have learned so much from other people here.”

Charlesworth is one of 1,000 volunteers who collectively donate 10,000 hours annually to keep Springfield Community Gardens (SCG) growing.

“I’m vegan and it’s expensive to buy fresh produce, so this helps sustain me,” Charlesworth said.

SCG began in 2010 with a small group of people who wanted to start a neighborhood garden in the Grant Beach Neighborhood.

Shelley Vaugine, garden leader at the Grant Beach Community Garden and one of the co-founders, said many families need fresh food but can’t necessarily afford it, so it makes sense to grow more as a community.

It took years, but their vision became a reality with the assistance of the Springfield-Greene County Park Board and the City of Springfield’s Neighborhoods and Planning Office in the Planning & Development department.

With a commitment from the City of Springfield and grants from different departments and businesses, the idea has taken root throughout the city.

There are now 22 sites, said Emilee Blansit, volunteer coordinator with AmeriCorps VISTA.

Every garden is unique but each builds a sense of community, said Maile Auterson, SCG interim director.

“At the SCG Market Garden, the sole purpose of it is to teach others to grow food for market. We grow food in the market for the daycare at the Fairbanks and we provide produce for their weekly community dinners,” Auterson said.

Teaching someone how to earn a couple extra hundred dollars a month can be significant to a low-income family.

At the Meador Community Garden in Ray Kelly Park, they donate food to a senior center.

Three years ago, SCG teamed up with Ozarks Food Harvest to donate produce in two north side neighborhoods.

In order to receive the produce, people must volunteer in the garden for two hours a month.

“We hear all the time from people that they cannot afford to buy fresh produce,” said Vaugine.

Aside from what is grown in the garden, Ozarks Food Harvest picks up excess produce from grocery stores and it is all distributed once a week. Sometimes neighbors will volunteer for a person who is physically unable to work in the garden, or garden leaders will find non-strenuous jobs like making phone calls so everyone can participate, said Auterson.

Although each garden is different, in general, volunteers reap some of the harvest.

Friends Jon Raley and Alicia Doran volunteer at the gardens through their church; once a month they forgo church service and dig in the dirt instead.

“We were looking for a meaningful way to give our time that mattered,” said Raley.

It’s been a fulfilling experience, they added.

“I absolutely love it,” said Doran.

“I have no experience gardening, but I’m interested in it so it’s nice to have experts teach me.”

Jarek Srnka is studying horticulture at Missouri State University and volunteers eight hours a week to earn college credits, but he plans to stay on when his classes are over because it has been such a rewarding and educational experience.

Community gardens address everything from food deserts, to healthier living, to neighborhood beautification. They promote physical activity and build community relationships.

Just ask Abdo Soliman, who has a long history of community gardens; he’s been volunteering at them since he lived in St. Louis in 1995.

“You have a garden that doesn’t tie you down and people can pitch in for each other,” Soliman said. “It’s a good platform for people to meet each other. I always end up with new friends.”

NUMBERS AT A GLANCE:

• Springfield Community Gardens was established in 2010 and today has 22 sites around the city.
• Roughly 1,000 volunteers tend to the gardens.
• In 2016, working with Ozarks Food Harvest, 170,476 pounds of produce was donated to families in need, and volunteers logged more than 9,800 hours in SCG gardens.

GET INVOLVED:

If you want to volunteer for Springfield Community Gardens, visit springfieldcommunitygardens.org and click on the volunteer tab to pull up a calendar of opportunities. You can use the website to find a garden near you.

DISTRIBUTION CENTERS:

Two gardens serve as distribution centers: Grant Beach Community Garden, 800 W. Hovey (on Thursdays); and Weller Community Garden, 1624 E. Blaine St., (on Wednesdays). To receive produce, volunteers must work at least two hours a month in the garden. There are jobs, such as sorting, for people who are not physically able to work in the dirt, and one bed is wheelchair accessible. Garden leaders will find a way to work with people who need it.

For people who don’t know how to prepare or preserve fresh produce, Vaugine offers free cooking classes the last Sunday of the month at the Hovey House.