Cultivating belonging: Adirondack community gardens provide more than produce

Unique spaces focus on accessibility, shared resources and belonging

By Holly Riddle

On the surface, community gardens are simple. In most cases, community members pay a small fee to access a plot of land for growing produce or flowers through the summer. However, look a little deeper at community gardens throughout the Adirondacks and they’re so much more. They’re not just a community resource, but a community builder, as well as an opportunity for education, giving back and making gardening more accessible.

Finding common ground in Saranac Lake

At Common Ground Gardens in Saranac Lake, volunteer garden manager Emily-Bell Dinan brought extensive experience and a vision when she took on the role in 2021. Over the last three years, the garden has increased capacity and usership, while addressing members’ unique needs.

“We introduced a shared communal resources approach to the garden, rather than ‘Here’s your bed, here’s my bed,’” she said. “We also serve the needs of a lot of senior citizens in…regulated housing situations and apartments. They don’t have backyards, and a lot of folks are low income. Being able to use our resources communally, making sure everyone has compost, making sure everyone has mulch, making sure everyone has seedlings, equalizes the playing field.” 

To assist those with lack of transportation to the garden, the group also coordinates rideshares between downtown and the space on the Adirondack Medical Center’s property.

“The best part of this growing space to me,” said Dinan, “is that it serves the needs of people in Saranac Lake who are left out of the outdoor tourism…High Peaks and paddling [activities]. We want you to socialize, get outside, garden, have fresh air, have fresh vegetables and an enjoyable space to go to. It’s really beneficial to year-round residents, low-income residents, senior citizens and [families with] babies.”

Increasing access for seniors in Lake Placid

Similarly, the Lake Placid Community Garden, located on Cornell University Uihlein Maple Research Forest property, provides an outlet for users of all ages and abilities. Local resident Heidi Roland has been involved with the garden since it first opened in 2009. The garden features 36 plots, a compost site, pollinator garden and garden shed built as an Eagle Scout project.

“There was always a lot of interest from the start, from all different kinds of people — people that had never gardened before, people that were seasoned gardeners, people that really wanted to grow their own food, people who wanted their kids to get in the dirt,” Roland said. “I live in the village of Lake Placid and it gave me the opportunity to have a large space to grow food.”

Last year, Mercy Care for the Adirondacks acquired two plots at the garden for the organization’s elders, as well as any older adults in the community, to enjoy. As a result, Karen Rodriguez, director of community relations and grant management, said, participants experienced increased social connections and greater purpose. 

“They had responsibility in harvesting, weeding, watering or whatever it is that they were there for,” she described. 

Mercy Care provides all the seedlings and various tools that users of their plots may need and, inspired by the initiative’s success in 2024, this year, the organization secured a LEAF Grant to improve accessibility at the garden further.

“With that, we were able to purchase some more tools and garden equipment, but also things like benches and a table with an umbrella to offer a shady, sturdy place to sit; to level [the entry] pathway; and to purchase some of the plants as well,” said Lexi Bevilacqua, director of programs and mission integration. 

“It’s uneven ground getting from the road to the garden gate, so that was an issue [last year]. If there was someone in a wheelchair… it was very difficult for them to get into the garden,” Rodriguez added. “We realized we had to do something if we were going to have the garden open for all of our elders.” 

Families take part in Inlet garden efforts

The Inlet community garden, overseen by the Inlet Area Community Task Force, has likewise put accessibility front and center this year, with the addition of wheelchair-accessible beds. The garden attracts a mix of individuals, from snowbirds to elderly locals to young families, the latter of which is a group that organizer Stephen Cole noted he was particularly excited about.

“The benefits of raising your own produce are obvious, but I also think it’s very beneficial for kids to come with their parents, get their hands dirty and learn about plants, wildlife and nature as well.” 

A creative concept takes shape in Westport

Even with the accessibility measures that many community gardens throughout the region have taken, not everyone has the time or ability to grow their own food — and that’s where Creative Kitchen Garden in Westport provides a unique solution. Members sign up, but don’t actually grow anything. Instead, business owner Mary Godnick handles that task and members are welcome to stop by the garden any time, mid-June–October, sunrise to sunset, to pick their share of whatever’s ready for harvest.

Godnick began gardening extensively after relocating to the region from Syracuse for work, living at DaCy Meadow Farm, where Creative Kitchen Garden is now located. She tried selling her excess produce out of a farm store, but it didn’t really make sense for her and she began hosting community u-pick nights at her garden in 2022. This year is her first offering the CSA-style, u-pick memberships for community members, and she largely credits DaCy Meadow Farm owners David and Cynthia Johnston for making the business possible, both through their mentorship and providing the growing space.

“It’s very community focused. It’s very social. I know almost all my members personally,” Godnick said. “Most are people who are older and maybe used to have a big garden, but that’s just not feasible for them anymore, or people with young kids who had a garden in the past or would like to have a garden, but it’s not feasible because of the stage of life they’re in — or just people whose lives are really busy or don’t have the space.” 

To Godnick, the best part of her work as a gardener and having a gardening space in general reflects a theme echoed throughout all of the above gardens’ stories.

“The best part is sharing [your garden] and what you grow with people you love,” she said. “The reason people grow things is to share it, and to marvel at the beauty, wonder and taste of what you grow — then to multiple that by dozens of other people that I get that to share it with, is a really magical opportunity.” 

Photo at top courtesy of Mercy Care for the Adirondacks