Generation ROC: East Rochester girl scouts plan year ahead for community garden
( WROC ) — Along with the cold comes the time to clean up the fall debris and plan anew what to grow in the garden come spring. Girl Scout Troop 60314 doing just that as the scouts sweep clean the Despatch Community Garden that they planted right next door to the East Rochester Community Resource Center.
"I know not everyone has enough room in their home to have a garden, and community gardens are just—I love the idea so much and I just love gardening, so it's like pretty fun," says one scout, India Martin.
This troop was the first to install a free little library in East Rochester, and from there, the inspiration to serve their neighborhoods only grew. The girls were going for their Silver Award, which requires they dedicate at least 50 hours to a project that will make their community a better place.
This troop went above and beyond, spending more than 60 hours over two years—the first year organizing, getting the proper town and village permissions for the community garden, building planter boxes, and finally rooting them in the space. Troop Leader Sam Cipolla says they also visited other area community gardens like Penfield and the one in Fairport to learn what works.
Then after opening in October 2023, the girls, their troop leadership, and community helpers spent another year learning how plants grow and stretching their green thumbs.
"It was a long time coming and it took a lot of work, and honestly, I feel like sometimes I was like this is never going to be done, but now that it is, I'm so happy," says India.
Cipolla says since summer, there have been some successes and failures growing pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers and a few other garden staples. She says the goal going forward is get the other local troops involved, offer boxes to community growers, and have a bountiful harvest to share with the people around them.
"We are hoping that next year will be a season of growth, so that the resource center can benefit—and all the people that the resource center helps in general—to make it flourish and stick around," Cipolla shares.
