Enos Park Neighborhood Garden provides fresh produce to Springfield community

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Nestled just north of downtown Springfield at 1022 N. 5th Street, is the Enos Park Neighborhood Garden. The lot includes 30 public raised beds, 5 standing beds, a strawberry patch, and a separate area with raised beds for rent.

"In a neighborhood like this, we have I think a 51% poverty rate, so we have a lot of people with a lot of needs," said Carey Smith, the garden manager. "We have limited options for groceries and a lot of people around here shop at the dollar store."

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Last season, the volunteer team at Enos Park Garden donated over 1,200 pounds of freshly grown produce. This includes everything from spinach, strawberries, beets, asparagus, and more. The food is donated to Kumler Outreach ministries food pantry or distributed at the free farmers market on site every Saturday between June and August.

Each year, Smith makes plans to expand the garden and add improvements. This year, there will be a designated children's spot in the garden and a children's garden club. An adult leader will guide children on when to plant, weed, and harvest the plants in that section. Smith is also working to design a wheelchair accessible garden so those with mobility issues can still take part in daily garden chores.

The last improvement Smith is working on is building a greenhouse on the garden property. So far, donors have designated $5,000 for the structure, but Smith is still fundraising.

"We are doing some major infrastructure projects this year, so I've been writing a lot of grants, and we're hoping to sort of diversify our funding so we're not completely reliant on the same few donors," said Smith. "But it's wonderful. The more the more funding we get, the more volunteers we get, then the more produce we can get for our community."

For more information on the garden, you can follow the Facebook page: The Enos Park Neighborhood Garden, or check out the website.