The Juneau Community Garden celebrated the growing season on Saturday with its annual harvest fair, complete with prizes for best vegetables grown.
On a table covered in vegetables, one stood out — a turnip with a face made out of carrots. Long stalks of turnip greens fanned out around it, and a hook-shaped carrot sat on its head.
John Thedinga, the president of the garden’s board, spoke into a megaphone.
“Matteo and Sophie are the grand champions,” he said. “With Octopus on a Hook.”
Sophie and Matteo Echave created Octopus on a Hook. They’re this year’s youth champions of the Harvest Fair.
Sophie is 9 years old. Her brother Matteo is five. He’s a bit shyer. Both are first time gardeners.
Their mom, Katy, asks what they learned this year.
“Root larvae like turnips,” Sophie said.
Pat McLear, the garden’s secretary, says Sophie and Matteo aren’t the only first timers this year. With the first season at the Thane Community Garden underway, the waitlist at the Juneau Community Garden is about half its normal length.
The garden has 170 regular plots. Each 10-by-20-foot bed costs $35 a year and requires five hours of service in the garden, like helping manage the weeds.
Thane’s new community garden, with 40 beds so far, has taken some of the pressure off. And now residents at Juneau’s shelter, The Glory Hall, have their own community garden, too.
All of this means that most people on the Juneau Community Garden list have a good chance of getting in — but McLear says people should sign up soon.
And if they’re hesitating because they don’t know where to start, McLear says other gardeners will help out.
“If you’re a rookie, you could walk up to anybody who’s out and say, you got a minute?” she said. “And people will give you the minute and help you out.”
McLear says there is a wealth of knowledge to tap into around the garden.
