Sioux Falls Thrive begins Garden Week

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Today, Sioux Falls Thrive launched Garden Week. Organizers and volunteers will come together at a different park in the city each day in an effort to strengthen the community.

Volunteers gathered at Wesley United Methodist Church today to kick off Garden Week.

“Today is to get some seeds in the ground. Today is to get some squash planted, some watermelon, to lay some compost, some mulch. We’re not really trying to do tons of work today. We’re really just getting people out and about, helping each other, planting seeds together and hoping to build into something that’s bigger throughout the week and to the season that’s to come,” organizer Jordan Deffenbaugh said.

And, they had a wide range of helpers today.

“What was great about today was the spread of volunteers we had from age groups. It was very, very diverse, and we had a whole group of, I think it was around 10-15 people,” Deffenbaugh said.

But, this week is not just about gardening.

“What we’re trying to do is build toward a culture of gardening and where people get together and collectively garden, so these containers that we have behind us, these are going to be collectively managed by neighbors in the neighborhood, so we’ll have it set up on a corner, people will water it, they’ll pull weeds from it, they’ll pick from it,” Deffenbaugh said.

“Really, it’s an opportunity for me. Not just growing plants, but growing relationships with people, and for us within this church and the neighborhood to build relationships with our neighbors, other people that are coming in, and build relationships with each other,” volunteer Bill Gran said.

Work starts at 9 a.m. every day. For a list of locations, click here .

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