William Hall welcomes those with a green thumb

By Brandon Maxwell
Posted 4/26/17

By BRANDON MAXWELL Members of the Cranston community celebrated Earth Day on Sunday at The William Hall Library for its second annual Seed 'Em & Reap Agricultural Fair" to learn about everything from chicken keeping to small space farming. Community"

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William Hall welcomes those with a green thumb

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Members of the Cranston community celebrated Earth Day on Sunday at The William Hall Library for its second annual “Seed ’Em & Reap Agricultural Fair” to learn about everything from chicken keeping to small space farming.

Community Engagement Manager Katy Dorchies, Library Assistant Loretta Cimini and Youth Services Librarian Elise Petrarca said planning for this year’s event began in the fall to organize information booths featuring local businesses, farmers and organizations throughout Rhode Island, as well as drawing interest within the community. This year’s workshops were directed by the Edgewood Garden Club, URI Master Gardeners, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, and Cluck! Farm and Garden Supply.

Wright Deter and his wife run their store, Cluck!, in Providence with a focus on small-scale food production and animal husbandry. Deter said he and his family were excited to be asked to return to this year’s fair after they also participated last year. The family lives in western Cranston on Hurricane Hill Farm.

“My wife, my son and I work really hard at the store and on the farm, and it makes us feel good,” Deter said. “We feel like we are doing something that’s important, and helpful and educational for people so we’re pretty excited about that.”

This year is also the first year that the William Hall Library was able to partner with the Rhode Island Food Bank. Dorchies said that the library is planning on donating its produce to the food bank for families in need. Through its four community gardens, the food bank was able to produce 65,000 pounds of vegetables for insecure families in Rhode Island last year. They hope to produce even more this year.

“I think it’s a wonderful partnership,” said Patty Perry, who has been working at the food bank for more than 15 years. “I would like to see families get out to our community farms, learn about what we’re doing, have a wonderful experience outdoors, learn about giving back to the community and grow fresh produce for Rhode Islanders that are in need.”

URI’s Master Gardeners, experts in environmentally sound horticulture practices through research-based factual information, were also in attendance helping visitors test the fertility of their soil with provided samples.

“We tell people what’s wrong with their soil and what they should add according to what they’re going to plant,” master gardener Diane said Pina Jones, who has lived in Cranston for the last 25 years. “We take a soil sample, test it and our meter tells us its pH level, and we tell them whether their soil is good enough for their lawn or whatever they are planting. Then we can tell them what they do or don’t need. I’m a talker so I love getting to know people and meeting new people.”

“We’re just talking to the public about soil testing and general questions about gardening,” master gardener Vanessa Lampke said. “I’m happy to see this many people interested in the outdoors, especially with their children. I’m actually a Cranston native that moved away and came back.”

Members from the Edgewood Garden Club participated in the fair after a busy morning cleaning up at Stillhouse Cove with the Edgewood Water Preservation Association. President Mary Jo Hines, Vice President Paul Nunes and fellow member Kathleen Duffy said helping at both events encompasses what their organization is all about.

Much of their discussions with visitors pertained to sustainable gardening practices in places like Cranston, Providence and Warwick. Since all three areas have a lot of old buildings and foundations, pieces of lead-based paint can end up in the soil. Duffy, Hines and Nunes said that one way to avoid planting in contaminated soil is with raised garden beds and container gardening.

“We participated last year and it’s always good when we have an opportunity to educate people about this particular neighborhood and growing in this particular neighborhood,” Duffy said.

“I think it’s really beneficial when you actually have a finished product, and you get to use your herbs or eat your tomatoes that you grew,” Nunes said. “There’s a lot of pride that goes into that and it’s pretty rewarding.”

In addition to the information booths and workshops, the seed library has existed at William Hall Library for four years now. Attendees are encouraged to take free seeds for various fruits, vegetables and flowers, and at the end of the season, harvest the seeds to help the library stock up for future seed libraries. Dorchies said that the library gives out anywhere between 300 and 500 seeds at its Earth Day events thanks to donations from local gardeners, High Mowing Organic Seeds, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Burpee Seeds.

“It’s exciting, we were really pleased that we could schedule on Earth Day this year,” Dorchies said. “It’s validating. As a public library we always want to feel like we are providing the community with the information they want. That’s our primary goal so when you put together something like this where you have a variety of information and people coming together to share it, that’s what the library is all about.”

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