PARRISH — Plans for a new community garden are taking root in a growing area of Parrish.
Like other community gardening spaces that have recently sprung up around Manatee County, the Parrish plots will allow seasoned gardeners to put green thumbs to good use — and aspiring gardeners to learn how to make things grow.
Planned for Parrish Community Park, 7550 Fort Hamer Road, the project is a collaboration between Manatee County Government and the local extension of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
“It’s a shared garden site where residents can come and grow vegetables, herbs, flowers … whatever they want, essentially,” David Shurmer, parks operations manager for Manatee County Government, told residents at a meeting of the Parrish Civic Association this month.
The community garden program dates to 2015. Envisioned as a way to help address food insecurity, the program has blossomed to provide education, fun and community involvement.
It now spans three gardens, including the recent addition of the Patricia & Dr. Carroll Geraldson Community Garden in northwest Bradenton. A fourth garden is planned to open soon at Alderwood Park, 7028 Alderwood Drive, Sarasota, near Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. Parrish Community Park will host the fifth.
“There was a need north of the (Manatee) River, we don’t have any,” Shurmer said.
The Parrish garden will feature individual plots and common areas with fruit trees that garden members can harvest from. Members will benefit from weekly gardening tips and ongoing education, according to Mack Lessig, a horticulture agent with UF/IFAS who helps oversee Manatee County gardening programs.
An annual $25 membership includes access to local expertise, plus a garden plot, tools and water. The gardens also host workdays that are open to the public.
At the Parrish Civic Association meeting, county and UF/IFAS staff collected garden design ideas from residents. That feedback will be incorporated into the planning process, with construction, opening and signup details to be announced at a later date.
“Not every garden is exactly the same,” said Carmine DeMilio, Manatee County’s director of parks and grounds. Details that can differ include plot sizes, fruit tree varieties and educational signage.
The Board of County Commissioners approved $175,000 for the garden in September — part of over $550,000 in funding for Parrish beautification projects.
Other items include $200,000 for Parrish welcome signs, $80,000 for veterans banners and decorative signal box wraps and $75,000 for landscaping at the Fort Hamer Road roundabout.
“The community garden will provide an opportunity to bring neighbors together, while the banners, historical signs, roundabout beautification and welcome signs will allow residents to travel through the heart of Parrish and share in its history, celebrate our veterans and help make Parrish feel even more like home,” Parrish Civic Association President Jennifer Hamey said in a news release.
For more information about Manatee County’s community garden program, visit syfl.ifas.ufl.edu/manatee.