Inspiration Garden receives $1,000 donation

The Master Gardeners received a $1,000 donation from an anonymous donor May 6. This donation will go toward creating a community teaching project for all interested gardeners — The Inspiration Garden — located on the Des Moines Area Community College campus in Newton.

The garden is the latest project of the Jasper County Master Gardeners in collaboration with DMACC. The group’s president Mark Monroe said, “Our Inspiration Garden is intended to inspire area residents with a variety of garden design ideas and will demonstrate the use of an assortment of plants in shade or sun. The garden will provide a space for gardening education and will appeal to visitors of different ages, backgrounds, interests and abilities.”

The Jasper County group has already completed several other projects in recent years, including a vegetable Donation Garden, with the help of a USDA-funded grant from Growing Together Iowa. Over the last six years, the gardeners have raised and donated 12,000 pounds of fresh produce for the Jasper County Food Pantry to provide healthy fruits and vegetables to individuals who are food insecure.

The Pollinator Habitat is a raised garden of native Iowa prairie plants that was created to educate communities on the beauty and importance of conservation and the environment. The garden was made possible with a grant from Plant Iowa Beautiful.

Most recently the group has added a 14 by 24 foot greenhouse donated by local couple Tim and Janet Onnen. The greenhouse is used for Master Gardener education, extending the growing season and improving food security in the community.

The Jasper County group has grown by 500 percent in the last five years. Master Gardener Program Coordinator Carol Camp believes, “All of our projects are community-based and are making such an impact that people are drawn to them and want to join our group.”

Plans are underway for the next phase in the Inspiration Garden project, which includes a large educational space to be used for teaching programs for the community.

If you, too, would like to support the project, donations can be sent to Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Jasper County, 550 N. Second Ave. W., Newton, Iowa 50208.

The Jasper County Master Gardeners is a program of ISU Extension and Outreach. Volunteers receive an initial broad-based horticulture training, ongoing support, resources and education from their county coordinator and state staff. Master Gardeners share their time and expertise as volunteers in community gardens, city beautification projects and farmers markets, to name a few examples.