Westside Community Garden of Roseburg Brings All Sorts Together

/
Planting day at westside community garden of roseburg.

Planting day at westside community garden of roseburg.

Westside Community Garden of Roseburg is a fantastic example of collaboration between organizations and community members. All kinds of people worked together to make this lot, located next to Roseburg United Methodist Church, a space for inclusion and growth.

UCC Nursing Group walking the Chartres labyrinth after weeding it.

UCC Nursing Group walking the Chartres labyrinth after weeding it.

Westside Community Garden provides "a communal and educational space for growing local, fresh and organic food while building a supportive community" in Roseburg, Oregon. So far, the space includes 16 foot by 16 foot garden plots, raised beds, three labyrinths, a butterfly garden, a bamboo garden, a mushroom garden and, soon, an accessible forest garden.

It would take a LONG time to list all of the organizations and people who have contributed to the Garden, so we'll limit ourselves to highlighting a few here: 

David Fricke, Executive director of Umpqua Valley disAbilities Network, sitting on the edge of one of the raised beds.

David Fricke, Executive director of Umpqua Valley disAbilities Network, sitting on the edge of one of the raised beds.

Umpqua Valley disAbilities Network plays a key role in ensuring the Garden is accessible to people with disabilities. They were responsible for creating raised beds so that people who can't crouch or bend over to reach the ground can still garden. They've worked hard to make other parts of the garden accessible, too.

accessible wooden walkway in progress.

accessible wooden walkway in progress.

An Eagle Scout project contributed an accessible plank walkway with wheelchair ramps.

Meals on Wheels of Roseburg and others take advantage of the produce grown in the garden, distributing it to hungry residents in need of healthy food.

We could go on and on. In short, Westside Community Garden is an amazing collaborative effort contributing to the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of Roseburg's community members.

Northwest Health Foundation supported Westside Community Garden of Roseburg through a Learning Together, Connecting Communities grant to Umpqua Valley disAbilities Network in 2014.