Gardening is an important and enjoyable part of life at EngAGE communities. Thanks to EngAGE V.P. Nancy Goodhart for sending these pictures of the Dorado and Jasmine gardens before, during, and after building; and for sending the note below from gardener Starlite which acknowledges all the hard work it took to make the gardens happen in many of our communities and neighborhoods:
I just had to send out a big thank you email for the Senior Gardening Club.
We finished our 7th and final garden in late June at the Community Church of Christ in Anaheim. This is the first truly “open” site for the community, and we are hopeful the neighborhood will really enjoy it.
I have to give lots and lots of thanks to everyone who made this project a reality. Each one of you was, and is, instrumental. It truly takes a village!
Aneta Dorhout was my rock through this project and helped with so many different aspects. Aneta is our Master Garden Volunteer Coordinator and has been doing an amazing job of juggling sites, volunteers, and schedules. Happy side note: Aneta is working part-time during the summer at our Incredible Edible Park where volunteers harvest produce for our community partners and we are thrilled to have her share her expertise with our volunteers!
Bill Ossiginac, my fantastic father-in-law, is responsible for those amazing looking garden beds! His skills, problem solving abilities, and vision were crucial to the success of this program. Bill and his team of rock star volunteers, Paul, Sandy, and Tony, worked so hard on building those beds- many took two days! I cannot thank my dream team enough!
I also want to recognize all the site coordinators and property managers who allowed for this project to happen and are maintaining it with the residents. Your collaboration is an integral part of how we serve the community. I especially want to thank Nancy Goodhart, who oversees 5 of our 7 locations. Nancy was so enthusiastic about this program and her understanding and flexibility helped to keep the project on track.
And I cannot forget our wonderful Master Gardener Volunteers! They have been volunteering their time to work with the seniors, empowering and engaging them. I recently received an email from Aneta with a status update from Master Gardener Sandy on the garden at Woodbridge. I have to share it with all of you because it just made me so happy!
“The garden looks fabulous! Many of the tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, herbs, and strawberries have already been harvested.
The residences have been so wonderful to work with. They ask lots of question and are very open to learning new techniques! They appear to get along with one another nicely. The garden has also brought the residences together socially where they normally wouldn’t have interacted before. Example: a resident that waters daily noticed a vegetable ready to be harvested and excitedly notified the plot owner. The two would normally not have interacted.
Irrigation was intentionally turned off due to the residences hand watering on a daily basis. They love their garden and enjoy spending time watering!”
Take a look!
