Spring Green Garden Show promotes sustainable, healthy lifestyle choices

Malachi Coursen pedals a bike to generate electricity as Lori Sprosty describes the energy usage needed to power light bulbs and other electrical devices. Photo by Denny Wendell

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On Saturday, May 24, the Bay Village Green Team hosted the second annual Spring Green Garden Show. The show was held outside at the Bay Village Community Garden which is at the corner of Forestview and Wolf roads. The family-friendly event was designed to promote a sense of community and sustainable, healthy lifestyle alternatives.

This Garden Show featured casual, hands-on workshops to learn about sustainable topics including gardening, composting and beekeeping. Local vendors and nonprofit groups promoted sustainable lifestyle options including organic lawn care and cleaning products, vegetable and herb gardening, recycling and composting, and bicycling as a clean mode of transportation and exercise. Young children were kept busy at the crafts table where they had fun making useful household items out of recycled materials.

For the past seven years, the Bay Village Green Team (an active group of volunteers) has promoted sustainable, healthy practices in the city of Bay Village. The Green Team has been involved in bike advocacy and education programs for residents on topics such as organic lawn care, backyard composting and rain barrels. The Green Team has also provided free consulting services to community nonprofit organizations to make their fundraising events zero waste.

In 2010, the Green Team established and now manages the Bay Village Community Garden. The community garden is a great example of community collaboration – the school board allows the use of the land for gardening and the city provides support by collecting the rent payments and providing free humus and wood chips to the gardeners.

The garden is open to Bay residents and nonprofit groups. It is filled each year – there are 130 garden plots rented and in use. The garden is 100 percent organic. The sunny location is perfect for growing herbs and vegetables including tomatoes, basil, peas, radishes and parsley. Nonprofit groups like the Village Project are involved. The Village Project has several garden plots which are used to grow fresh, organic produce to include in the nourishing meals that they prepare for local families experiencing cancer.

To learn more about the Bay Village Green Team, visit www.bayvillagegreenteam.org or join us at our next monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 10, from 6:30-8 p.m. at the Bay Community House, 303 Cahoon Road.