Keep Humphrey Calder Garden Alive and Thriving!

Why is gardening important?

Gardening is good for a great many things. It can be good for your health, good for your soil, and good for the wildlife in your backyard. It’s a great way to relieve stress, to set goals for yourself, and to nurture something. On top of all that, growing your own produce is a great way to become more sustainable at home and to reduce your environmental impact.

Rob and I have been the Garden Stewards for Humphrey Calder Community Garden for about 8 years. We were on the waiting list for 1 1/2 years before getting in. The previous Garden Steward was ready to retire, so my husband and I jumped right in. We rebuilt the garden from the ground up. Humphrey Calder Garden is located at the Heart of the City at Patterson and Thompson and our commitment is to keep it maintained for the community. We have a very diverse group of passionate gardeners. We are a non profit and do not receive any financial assistance from the City. Our plots are individually leased by individuals, roomates, families, partners, etc.

Unfortunately, we were just blindsided and made aware that EnRichmond who managed our bank account has been dissolved and with it our money that their company managed has disappeared. The City advised us to put our funds in this account and now we don't have access to the money our gardeners paid into it. I do not see a path forward without assistance from our caring community. We have outstanding expenses that we most likely will not be reimbursed for and our lawn mower just blew up...literally. Now that our money has vanished, we can't repair or replace our necessary lawnmower to maintain the property. We can't buy lumber to replace more beds that are falling apart.

We love this garden and want it to thrive, but we don't have the funds to keep it going now. We just rebuilt 12 beds. We were put on hold during COVID. We have receipts totaling over $1800 to improve the City Garden and now we may not get reimbursed. We have more tbeds to rebuild, but now no funds to make that happen.

I see so many of our neighbors enjoying the garden, walking through with children educating them about the flowers, bees and fruits/vegetables. Photographers are regularly coming through and photographing our amazing landscapes. If you enjoy our garden and want to see it continue to be a hallmark of our community, we need your help. Please donate to help us to maintain this amazing working garden as an example of how important our environment and ecosystems are to our future. We appreciate anything that you can do to keep our garden operating. My goal is to make this the best urban garden in the city for the community for many years to come, but we need your help now. Our garden really is an example of community, peace, and joy and how the world should come together towards a common goal.

Thank you for any assistance you can provide. We appreciate it so much. The garden requires regular maintenance and most of it costs money. We can put in the sweat equity, but supplies/tools are required as well.