01907_Summer_2019 WEB

18 | 01907
Seaside Garden
takes root
The Seaside Cooperative Garden on Humphrey Street is nearing completion with 21 raised beds for planting.
PHOTOS: SPENSER HASAK
BY BILL BROTHERTON
If you ask kids "Where do vegetables
come from?" the answer will likely be
"from the grocery store."
Members of the Seaside Cooperative
Garden group are out to change that line
of thinking, and to get families involved
in planting, growing and harvesting fresh
fruits and veggies.
On May 18, the non-profit group and
Bertram House of Swampscott hosted
a groundbreaking celebration at the
garden site on Humphrey Street. There
are 21 raised beds on the twisty-turny
90-feet-by-62-feet plot adjacent to the
senior living community. The land design
is by Bradford Design Associates of
Marblehead.
"We hit the jackpot, when Bertram
House generously and graciously offered
to provide the space for the garden," said
Sarah Koch, the garden group's president,
who added that a land-use agreement
is in place for three years. "It's a highly
visible spot, next to the football field and
near police headquarters. Lots and lots of
people will drive by and see it."
Ellen Taintor, director of Community
Relations at Bertram House, said
everyone there is thrilled with the
"blossoming" partnership. Residents and
their families will also have access to the
garden, where multiple generations can
learn about conservation and composting
while working side-by-side.
Currently, 33 households are members of
Seaside Cooperative Garden, a 501c(3) nonprofit.
The annual fee per household is $175.
Koch said the group sprouted after
a Facebook post in mid-2017 asked
"Would anyone be interested in starting
a community garden?" The response was
overwhelmingly positive, so she, Sierra
Munoz, vice president, and others set the
ball in motion.
The group's mission is to bring
members together in the shared effort of
growing and harvesting fresh produce.
While tending the garden, members will
collaborate and, through experiential
learning, improve gardening skills and
create a connection to their food. With
each harvest, a share of fresh produce will
be donated to a local food pantry. The
garden is family-friendly and open to
Swampscott area residents of all ages and
abilities. It includes hand-built raised
beds of corrugated steel roofing panels
and wood that will hold local compost,
organic vegetables, herbs, and fruit.
"We are a true co-op," said Koch.
"We all work in the same garden, and
everything is done together. We learn
from each other." Koch grew up in tiny
Chester, N.H., on 20 unfarmed acres.
She, her husband and two children moved
to Swampscott three years ago. "Oh, yes.
The kids will be in the garden," she said.
John Picariello, the garden's
construction manager, grew up in town.
"I was born in an Italian neighborhood,
way up the hill on Eastman Avenue, the
higher you got the more Italian it got,
where everyone grew vegetables as a
necessity. It was competitive; who could
grow the biggest, the tastiest, the best.
"My grandmother, Jennie Picariello,
would make me go out to the garden to
pick vegetables. Some of my happiest
memories are talking with her. She