The Peace Lutheran Community Garden in Dickinson currently has 48 rental lots, 12 of which are still open. Dickinson Church members are encouraged to complete an application through the Peace Lutheran Church website.
The church provides tools for the gardeners, such as some small hand tools, shovels, rakes, hoes, watering cans, and water. The garden is worked on in the spring. Each pitch is $ 25 with a $ 15 deposit per pitch returned at the end of the season.
“I find that some of the people who have rented spaces live in apartments and therefore don’t have a garden to grow anything on, and they don’t have the equipment to do so, which is really handy,” Pastor Mike Pretzer said.
Although the Peace Lutheran Community Garden is a relatively new area established in 2017, Pretzer said he was excited for the 2021 summer season and hoped the garden would grow with gardeners and the number of rental lots each year. For people who don’t have access to a garden, this is a way to enjoy summer outdoors, he noted.
“You can grow much tastier and more nutritious foods if you grow them yourself. Also, I think working in the dirt is therapeutic. It’s an inexpensive way to be outside, grow your own food (and) get exercise, ”said Pretzer. “So gardening has a lot of advantages. It’s also good mental therapy; There are many advantages. ”
There are no restrictions on what gardeners can grow in the Peace Lutheran Community Garden, Pretzer said. However, the community garden prohibits the use of chemicals, he added.
Further down, Pretzer would like to see a harvest meeting with all the gardeners at the end of the season.
“I think one of my goals is to build relationships between the gardeners so that people here can meet others and develop a relationship or friendship that they might not otherwise have,” he said.
For gardening treatments and more information, visit the Church’s websites at peacelutherandickinson.com.
