THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
ABOVE: Angie Walsh of the Middlefork Seeders and Weeders Garden Club points out flowers, and where she saw a caterpillar, in the butterfly garden near the library in Potomac.
POTOMAC — Garden “extras” are very common this time of year.
You know, those cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, zucchini and other produce that overwhelmed home gardeners gift to friends and coworkers.
To further spread the wealth, the garden club in Potomac known as the Middlefork Seeders and Weeders has started a vegetable stand, at the suggestion of a resident who became a club member. The club set up the stand at the American Legion pavilion last month for community members to stock up with fresh produce.
“It’s just been so fun,” said club member Angie Walsh.
Another member, a woman who has chickens, has shared some of their eggs, too.
The Middlefork Seeders and Weeders’ mission is “to beautify our community, educate our residents and enhance their lives through gardening.”
The club has continued to beautify the village and remember its history with such attractions as a butterfly garden east of the library.
Walsh, a substitute teacher since her 2015 retirement from Potomac Grade School, said she was afraid she’d be bored if she had too much leisure time. So she reached out to see if anyone was interested in starting a garden club.
People obviously were. The group, which takes its name from Middlefork Township because members didn’t want it to be just Potomac, will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary next year.
“Hopefully we can do some fun things to commemorate that,” Walsh said.
She said they are always looking for new members, as the current ones are not getting any younger.
In the beginning, she said, the club tried having a farmers’ market. But they had an ice storm for the first one, and the market just didn’t go over very well, lasting only a few months.
Another group project, the empty lot east of the library, off Route 136, ended up being a beautiful butterfly garden for the community.
“I just kind of had a vision for this,” Walsh said. She approached the property owner, and they worked out an agreement.
Walsh’s vision then was put into place with help from her husband, Jim, and son, Adam.
“I get the ideas, but they are the engineers,” Walsh said. They helped build the raised flower beds and installed a bed that is now a flower bed.
Walsh said Master Gardener Julie Hughes also helped tremendously with the selection of flowers to attract butterflies and setting it up. The garden also is on a pollinator map.
The community project wouldn’t have been possible without the community’s and village’s support and grants.
A mural also was painted on the adjacent township hall building by Nate Grice of Paxton, who is with the Walldogs painters who paint murals in various cities. Brick pavers with sponsors’ names on them at the butterfly garden raised funds for the mural.
There’s also a shady spot at the garden to sit under a grain bin gazebo.
Other beautification projects the club continues to tend and add to are located nearby, including at an empty lot that was a former gas station, Betty Kinney Park, addition of new concrete and benches and a new picture at a memorial for David L. Judy who died in Vietnam, and at Millie Curtis Park.
Walsh said the park and garden areas are nice, peaceful spots.
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