Six years ago, the Community Garden was established in Fountain Hills and, with it, an enthusiastic group of green thumbs wanting to create a personal garden when they can’t at home due to lack of space or difficult desert soil. Residents jumped on board and quickly filled the roughly 120 beds being leased. There also quickly grew a waiting list to get a plot.

In 2022 the Town Council decided that the garden location, adjacent to the Centennial Circle in the civic center, would be better used for a planned International Dark Sky Discovery Center (IDSDC). As a result, the garden would have to go. Garden Manager Rita Applegate quickly went to work with representatives of the Town, Discovery Center and Echelon Construction to come up with a plan to simply relocate the garden farther south, out of the way of the Discovery Center footprint. The Discovery Center officials willingly agreed to foot the bill for the move, and Applegate wanted Dennis Brown and his Echelon Construction to do the work. Applegate had praise for the IDSDC and Brown for their willingness to cooperate and support the effort.

Early in 2023 there was a brief ceremony at the site to begin the reconstruction of the Community Garden and, earlier this month, Brown and his crew returned the garden to Applegate, her volunteers and gardeners so they could get back to planting.

Applegate has a long list of projects and work to be done to make the garden even better than it has been.

“I think we have gone from garden 1.0 to 4.5,” she said. “There is less physical space, but that is good to make the space more efficient.”

She said she has an “army” of volunteer help to get work done, train new gardeners on low-flow drip irrigation techniques, which will be a hallmark of the new garden.

“Without my army of volunteers, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Applegate said.

The reconfiguration project increased the number of 4’x10’ planting beds to 130. Three are set aside to grow produce for the Extended Hands Food Bank in Fountain Hills and there is a shared herb garden. They have also constructed six raised beds to be ADA compliant and accommodate handicapped gardeners. They have also been able to bring in some new gardeners who have been on the waiting list for two or three years.

“I want our donors to know that we have been able to reuse everything that has been donated over the years,” Applegate said.

On Saturday, Nov. 4, the Community Garden will celebrate its sixth anniversary as well as hold a grand opening for the new facility. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature a cooking class with Debbie Romano, music by the Sand Pigeons and displays and information from local vendors. The garden hosts a healing food series and cooking classes monthly beginning in October and continuing through the middle of next year. Visit fountainhillscommunitygarden.com for more information about the garden and its special activities and events.