Ribbon cutting for new community garden set for Monday

Cape Girardeau's newest community garden will be celebrated Monday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

City officials and other groups involved with local gardening efforts will gather at 11 a.m. at the Shawnee Park Community Demonstration Garden and Urban Orchard, 835 S. West End Blvd.

The demonstration garden is one of four community gardens supported by the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department and longtime volunteer Robert Harris. Harris was instrumental in the creation of the three previous gardens along South Fountain Street, North Main Street in the Red Star area and near Washington Park.

Community gardens in Cape Girardeau also are supported by the University of Missouri Extension Master Gardeners.

The new garden at Shawnee was created through cooperation between the city's parks and recreation department and the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center. The effort is one of many projects funded by city revenue generated by Isle Casino Cape Girardeau.

A grant received last year by the health center from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services also helped contribute to the garden and additional educational programs, such as a "green thumb" workshop in the spring and summer.

Emily Scifers, who co-owns Laughing Stalk Farmstead with her husband and is a founder of the Cape Riverfront Market, was brought on earlier this year to be Cape Girardeau's community garden coordinator. She said in a recent interview the grant for the garden was renewed for next year, and people should expect to see more activities.

"This being the first year, we're just kind of getting our feet wet and seeing what works," she said. "So far, it's been pretty good."

As parks and recreation director Julia Thompson said when announcing the Shawnee garden ribbon cutting, she and other garden volunteers expect to be "harvesting the fruits of our labor soon."

Scifers said people can look forward to activities centered around the next step: taking the food grown in the garden and preparing it in the kitchen. A series of free cooking classes at the Shawnee Park Center that focus on cooking food from the garden or farmers market will begin Aug. 18.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

835 S. West End Blvd., Cape Girardeau, Mo.