Living Innovations creates community garden at PCSWCD’s Law Farm

DOVER-FOXCROFT — The Law Farm Nature Trails, privately owned land that is maintained by the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District, has been a space for many different conservation education projects and demonstration areas over the years. From pollinator gardens to metal art sculptures, to agroforestry and story walks — the space offers a little bit of everything for the community to enjoy, including an outdoor education classroom!

Back in 2009, Steve and Elaine Law donated the Law Farm Nature Trails to PCSWCD after a search for an organization that could best carry out the dual missions of managing the forest for now and for future generations and also teaching others about the importance of stewardship of our natural resources. A recent example of this dual mission being carried out involves the Christmas trees that the Laws planted in 2008 and that were part of their Kids and Trees program that were harvested, and the funds went to supporting future educational offerings at the Law Farm.

In 2017, an American Chestnut Germplasm orchard was planted through a collaboration with the University of Maine’s Acting Director of Cooperative Forestry Research unit Brian Roth, Foxcroft Academy’s science teachers Robert Weber and Brian Krause, and The American Chestnut Foundation’s Maine chapter Thomas Klak. A children’s pollinator garden was created from many local donations and hands in 2019, followed by the Blue Bird Trail, established in 2020, which connects the main trail to one of the two soil pit demonstration areas and the Thompson Free Library’s annual story walk. The Law Homestead Trail that was installed in 2022 surrounds the Educational Apple Orchard, which was planted the year prior. That trail also features restored rose beds that Steve Law planted.

The Law Homestead area was donated to PCSWCD in 2019 from Pleasant River Lumber and has become a favorite area of the staff at the District as it showcases three different varieties of lilacs, wild asparagus, rose runners, day lilies, and daffodils in the spring. When visiting the Law Farm Nature Trails, we urge you to explore the new trails and enjoy a relaxing sit on one of the benches that were built by Boy Scout Troop 61 and placed under the lilac trees.

This past winter, Rachelle Perkins, behavioral support provider with Living Innovations, reached out to PCSWCD to see if her adult day program would be able to install a small community garden at the Law Farm. Living Innovations, a service of Mosaic, is a non-profit organization with 15 offices statewide, including one in Dover-Foxcroft. Living Innovations supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to lead good lives at home and in their communities through innovative programming. The garden was placed in the original homestead area of the Law Family and the rehabbed well, which now has a hand water pump, was used to water their plants. The group was happy to have a location that was out of the way, safe and a place to visit throughout the summer season. All the supplies needed for their project were donated by local businesses in the area.

The produce they have been able to successfully grow have been vegetables such as tomatoes, zucchini, cilantro, squash, lettuce and carrots. Among all gardening stories, there are always challenges that change year to year. Staff shared with Sarah Robinson, PCSWCD executive director, that they had corn that they believe “an animal peeled apart and ate the insides of.” The “Big Buck” they called the foraging deer and the “Gary’s” from the cartoon SpongeBob, also known as snails, were among the largest issues they encountered.

The project consisted of five staff and 10-15 individuals from the program that helped with the garden by planting, weeding, watering and harvesting. When asked what their favorite part of the gardening project was, an adult participating in the day program responded, “Growing plants and eating some of the stuff. My favorite thing to eat are the tiny tomatoes and I’m trying to eat healthy.”

The staff also explained that they have brought a zucchini that they picked from the garden to Vail’s Bakery, where they were welcomed to cook on the days the bakery is not open and made fried zucchini with garlic butter. Not only did the community garden provide nice, healthy snacks to the participants, but when they had extra produce, they would bring it to Central Hall Commons for the monthly meal they prepare for the elderly and to the Piscataquis Area Food Cupboard.

The group has already been troubleshooting the challenges for next season by knowing they will need better metal fencing, not the plastic orange fence they have now, along with more soil for their raised beds. They are planning to raise the gardens up higher and will be on the search for more building materials along with seedling donations next year. If you are someone that would like to contribute to this all-around community project, please reach out to Allison Arbo at Living Innovations at 207-604-4256.

“Since the community gives so much to them, we wanted to give back to the community,” said Perkins. It’s a win when you can use a community space to enhance the lives of individuals and provide a learning experience while giving back to the local neighborhood. We look forward to continuing to support their effort and see what they learn and grow next season!