Several years ago, Land Bank Commissioner Kristina Jelleme had an idea: a Land Bank Community Garden. Kristina grew up on a farm where her family grew all their own vegetables, making her a natural champion for the Land Bank’s agricultural pursuits. “I feel strongly about it, because local food and produce is important and sustainable,” she shared. With her encouragement, Land Bank staff got to work to see if we could make this idea a reality.
After conducting a public survey, it became clear that it wasn’t only our Commission who wanted to see expanded community gardens on the island – there was overwhelming interest from a wide swath of islanders as well. Nantucketers wanted more access to fresh vegetables, to be more sustainable, and to have an opportunity to connect with their community in this way.
With these results, and our vision for a new community garden, we got to work. Land Bank staff, with assistance from our Commission, busied ourselves with finding the perfect location, designing the space, assembling a Community Garden Committee, and eventually, opening a lottery system to the public.
Over 220 year-round residents entered our lottery for a chance to be assigned a garden plot, and we randomly selected 42 happy gardeners!
Almost every Land Bank staff member played a part in this project, whether by scoping out locations, building garden boxes, or hanging flyers: all under the leadership of our own Susan Campese, the Land Bank’s Director of Finance & Administration. This was a passion project for Susan, and she shared that she “loved working on this project because there are so many benefits of the Community Garden to our island community. For example, improvements to food security, fostering social and physical health, increasing environmental awareness, stress reduction, and last but not least, fresh produce.”
Community Garden Construction
The garden officially opened this summer, and we are overjoyed seeing these Nantucketers in this space, often with their children and families there to help, as they cultivate their gardens with a variety of vegetables, herbs, flowers, and more. Susan shared that “One of the goals of this garden is to create social connections. The best part for me now that the garden is open is watching the new friendships form and the generosity of the group. These were mostly strangers a couple months ago and they are working together to help each other out. I am grateful to them for being a true example of community and for sharing their beautiful gardens with all of us.”
“The garden plot has been our favorite family activity”
Photos by Siriratt Thairatana
Given the overwhelming interest we received, the Land Bank Commission is committed to creating more community gardens in the future, so stay tuned for more opportunities to come!
