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Harvest Hills starts community garden November 14, 2017, 7:04 amBryan King, one of the organizers and a resident of Harvest Hills, explained, "The proposal was to build something in an open space that was native. It was planned so it would be self-sustaining after a few years. It would give a chance for people to learn from experienced gardeners, have a share of fresh fruit and vegetables by working in the garden, buy a zucchini for dinner, or renting a bed with water to have a family garden." They pitched their idea to the Harvest Hills HOA. King said, "The HOA Board liked the idea and allocated budget for the first phase. Work was begun in early spring, clearing the lot and building rock walls to terrace the land. We found many rocks and small boulders as work began. The work was more difficult than expected. When we went to put in irrigation it was difficult to find access to water. We worked for a long time with the city and found the location of the stub and got a connection to metered water." King attributes that success of the project to the volunteers. "The garden wouldn't be anywhere close to what it is without all the volunteers who have helped so much. More than 200 people have volunteered at the garden so far. They built and painted a shed, put up a grapevine fence, built rental beds, put in tons of hours moving rocks, building rocks walls and chipping sagebrush. Many professionals have offered long hours doing things for less than they usually charge for their work. We are grateful to all of them!" Saratoga Springs Mayor Jim Miller and City Council member Stephen Willden have worked on the project as well. They said, "We are both grateful for the opportunity to work on such a great community project. We believe that the best way to build a community is to roll up your sleeves and work side-by-side with your neighbors. We want to continue to highlight these type of volunteer projects throughout the community over the next four years." The garden currently has perennial beds and rental beds with water ready. King said, "We will be planting perennials, putting dirt into the rental beds and building some berry beds before the ends of the year. We have a limited number of rental beds available for $25 for a 4'x8' plot, to get one please email harvesthillsgardens@gmail.com." If you would like more information on this project, you can visit the Harvest Hills Gardens FB page at: http://www.facebook.com/harvesthillsgardens or email them at harvesthillsgardens@gmail.com. The Harvest Hills HOA is also considering other improvements. You can also follow the activities of the HOA on their FB page as well: https://www.facebook.com/hhmasterhoa. This is a great example of residents, city government, and HOAs working together to create workable solutions for people in the area. Other communities would do well to get together and follow the example of what the Harvest Hills area is doing in Saratoga Springs. The community news source for Eagle Mountain Utah, Saratoga Springs Utah, Lehi Utah, American Fork Utah, Highland Utah, Alpine Utah, and The Cedar Valley, including Cedar Fort Utah and Fairfield Utah. Copyright 2024 The Crossroads Journal LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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