By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com
If gardening at ground level is troublesome, consider renting one of the new raised beds installed at the Yachats Demonstration and Community Garden at West Seventh Street and Driftwood Lane.
Thanks to grants from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund, there are now 14 weather-resistant beds available that are two feet high, and four feet wide by eight feet long. Formerly, the only beds available were one foot high.
The new versions are made of eco-friendly, recycled composite designed to last 25 years in all weather extremes. The new beds were shipped as kits, assembled by community garden volunteers and the Lincoln County Master Gardener Association.
“We’re so grateful to the Siletz tribe for their generous contribution,” said Donna Hadden, a co-coordinator of the community garden. The most recent grant from the tribe of $4,525 adds to the $3,000 awarded in 2019. For a yearly rental fee of $30, gardeners can become members of the community garden, entitled to use a drip system-watered bed, plus seeds in the garden greenhouse. For details, contact Hadden via email at donna.hadden@gmail.com.
Both grants were obtained by Laura Hauert, an associate member of the group and a master gardener.
“This is a place for everyone who loves to garden, and a source for lots of gardening information,” Hauert said.
The new beds are designed for “adaptive gardening,” she said. “We in the Yachats community tend to be older, and the higher beds make it easier for anyone who has physical issues to garden.”
All the beds are on a drip system “to minimize the amount of water we use,” Hadden said. In addition, the garden group has a 600-gallon catchment to conserve rainwater.
The community garden sits on two lots owned by the Yachats Community Presbyterian Church. The Yachats garden opened in 2009 as a joint endeavor between Oregon State University Extension, Lincoln County master gardeners and the church. The garden works with those organizations, volunteer master gardeners and community members to manage and maintain the garden.
Each growing season, the community garden contributes produce to South Lincoln County Resources and the Yachats Food Pantry, which is now run by the church.
Community garden organizers have traditionally hosted hands-on garden seminars, clinics and open houses monthly during the growing season, but cut back during the pandemic. Plans are to resume those activities during the 2022 growing season.