Volunteers Harvest Northglenn Community Garden

A few hours of volunteer work, picking tomatoes, was rewarded with a wonderful history lesson this past weekend.

  

Since 2006, volunteers from the community have spent many hours planting, cultivating, weeding, and harvesting a Co-op garden at Stonehocker Western Heritage Park, in Northglenn.  Vegetables from the 3600 sq. ft. plot (largest of 20 such gardens in Adams Co.) already this year have provided over 4,000 servings to Adams County Food Banks.

Tom Rapp picks pole beans from Northglenn Garden.

Garden Co-Op Facilitator, Tom Rapp said, “This garden alone provided over 15,000 servings last year.  We expect to surpass that number in 2011.  We installed a drip system this year to keep the soil moist.”  Seeds and plants are donated each year by local firms.  On this day, the homestead was buzzing with activity because it was Open House.

Ample harvest will serve Adams Co. Food Banks.

Before volunteers left for the day, Rapp called them together to thank them for their support.  Northglenn Mayor, Joyce Downing was attending the Open House and walked over to the group of about 15, to add her sincere appreciation for their support.

Rapp went on to explain, “We applied for a state grant to fund the design and construction of a fully landscaped commemorative 911 memorial between the garden and the farmhouse.  The memorial will be dedicated September 10^th (the day before 911), from Noon to 2 p.m.  It will be followed by the traditional pot luck dinner.

Farmhouse rose garden.

Site History: Clarence Theedy, a carpenter by trade, and his family, originally settled on this site in the 1890’s.  Over the years, the McAllister family, Westesen family, and a Japanese family, lived here.  The Theed family later sold/lost the farm to Walt Stonehocker for unpaid taxes.  Walts’ brother Joe became the first Fire Chief in Northglenn.

The original homestead included the house, a large barn and a chicken coop on the East side of the property.  The farm also had an orchard.  The house had no electricity or water until the 1920’s.  The site was listed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1999.