Community Garden brings in guest speakers for its first class

The Lincoln Community Garden hosted its first class of the season Saturday, March 27, 2021 at Valler's Heritage House.

The class focused on seed saving, the Lewis and Clark Conservation District's Pollinator Initiative and plans for a local seed bank.

More than 25 people came out for the class, including attendees from Canyon Creek and the Helmville/Ovando area.

"Initially we put out a few chairs and had the couch, but quickly had to bring out more chairs to accommodate the growing crowd," said Tiana Valler, Garden Board Vice President and co-owner of Valler's.

"It was so cool to see so many people interested and come check it out," Garden Treasurer Kathy Tams added.

During the two-hour gathering, Connor Mertz of the Lewis and Clark Conservation District spoke about the District's new Pollinator Initiative designed to supply residents of Lewis and Clark County with native seed mixes that bring in more local pollinators such as bees, birds and butterflies. He spoke about how the program works, answered questions about the seeds and project and distributed seeds to almost all in attendance. For those interested in the project or who would like to receive free seeds, you can contact Connor directly at [email protected] or at 406-449-5000.

Jean Pocha of Helmville spoke about seed saving and brought several resources. She described how seed saving has been part of our history for generations and went on to point out that several plants, vegetable and otherwise, have lost species due to the lack of seed saving.

"It's easier for people to go to the store to get their seeds to plant each year, but in doing so a lot of the varieties of different vegetables have been lost," she said during her presentation. She went on to talk about things you want to look for when saving seeds, and that by saving seeds we can have plants that are hardy in our own areas. If you're on Facebook, Jean also moderates the group "Blackfoot Community Gardeners" which contains lots of resources for seed saving and growing in our area.

Those who attended the gathering were very interested in the topic of seed saving and gained a lot of knowledge. Participants were also asked to submit suggestions for future topics they would like to see covered. The garden plans to host monthly classes, in conjunction with the Lincoln Branch of the Lewis and Clark Library. Some suggested topics for upcoming classes included building hoop-houses, canning, harvesting, dehydrating and freeze drying.

The garden board met in March to discuss the opening of the garden, plans for the year and for obtaining their own non-profit status so they can begin applying for grants to help with upkeep and improvement of the garden.

The season opens in the community garden on April 15. There are still some indoor and several outdoor plots available. If interested, please contact the garden via email at: [email protected].

For more information about garden activities and upcoming classes, please make sure to watch the BVD for announcements or contact Tammy at 406-633-0073.