Art in the Garden hopes to start a tradition

Both the Caribou arts community and the Community Garden in Soda Springs love to see things grow, and they are both hopeful that an annual “Art in the Garden” event will do exactly that.  Jeannine Robinett has been the heart of the community garden project since it officially launched in 2022.  She was on site for the kickoff of the new tradition, along with Naconna Gentry, who took on the leadership position this year.

“It’s been an adventure!” Gentry said.  “We’ve had a great time this year.”

Robinett agreed, and seemed as busy as ever in her new role.  “I’m one of the gardeners now,” Robinett laughed.  She remains on the board, and she will be coordinating a lot of the work with president Naconna Gentry  and the other members of the board.  

From its beginning, the Community Garden has been a true community effort.  The Presbyterian Church has been host of the garden’s location, and continues to support the project.  Grants from Bayer and Nutrien have been critical at getting the garden up and going, and countless hours and immeasurable effort have been spent building the garden up.  “Our first three years we relied almost completely on donations from garden members,” Robinett said.  “We have also gotten a lot of donations from seed companies, and donations of plants from the high school greenhouse.”  There is not a city or county dimension to funding for the garden at present, and the garden is trying out different ideas like the Art in the Garden to raise money..  “This is our first time doing anything like Art in the Garden, but we’re hoping to make this an every year fundraiser,”

The other major component of the event was the arts community.  As an artist and the owner of a flower shop, Marie Crane is a perfect bridge between the two worlds, and arranged the participation of many talented people for the event.  

A group of local artists, including Lucia Marie Crane, Bonnie McKlusky, Nancy Mabey, Joanna Ruma Cofa, Autumn Mason, Kel Crane, Daff Allen, Ben Beckstead, Becky Petersen, Alex Ozburn, all provided auction items for a silent auction.  The funds above the reserve which were raised through the auction, as well as donations and raffle ticket sales, will be used toward the high tunnel project.

During the afternoon, an art session for young artists was held, which led to the completion of dozens of new artworks that were used to decorate the garden.  For many people, it may have been their first exposure to the garden itself, as well as many of the local artists.  For others, it was perhaps nice to see the community garden busy and filled with art and nature lovers.

The mutual involvement of the arts community and gardeners, as well as donors, musicians, the Presbyterian church and others is another testament to the community involvement wrapped up in the project, and the potential for such projects to attract the talent and attention of a great area.  

The next largescale project the garden has in mind is a “high tunnel” greenhouse structure, which will allow for a greater diversity of plants to be grown, and extend the growing season for gardeners.  Grants are available to help provide much of the funding, but an initial investment and groundwork is needed before the grant can be activated.  

The group is already planning for next year.  “Next year we’ll put the auction paintings out in the community earlier and keep them up leading up to the event,” Marie Crane said.  “Everyone feels very positive about this, and that it’s going to be a good thing going forward!” she added.

The Community Garden is a 501(c)3, and for that reason its fundraising is led by a foundation.  Regardless of what name is attached to it, the purpose of the garden is clearly to give people a place to do what they love, and to give back to the community.  “We grow stuff here for different things—we donate it to organizations that can use it, for one,” Gentry said.   “ And it gives people a space to grow things that wouldn’t have it otherwise.”  

To sign up to be a community gardener, the easiest way is through the group’s Facebook page, which can be found under “Soda Springs Community Gardens”.  

Another testament to the community involvement, is a sign out in the garden next to a collection of antique wagon wheels, which explains the history of the Oregon Trail Rose in Caribou County.

It reads, in part: “One of our missions here at SSCG is preservation.  Not just preserving food, but knowledge and history.  This gardening season one of our members Kay Langedyke shared her love for the Harison Rose and the importance of this flower to our local history.  What follows is a brief history of this lovely flower written by Kay Langedyke.

The Oregon Trail Rose, also known as the Harison Rose, was hybridized and cultivated by George Harison, a lawyer from New York City in the 1820’s.  It was a hardly species able to survive severe cold and drought conditions.

Many pioneer women began to take Harison Rose cuttings, starts, and root bundles with them on their way west.

The beauty of this yellow rose as well as its ability to thrive in difficult environments made it highly valued by these women.  

There are accounts of women placing their roses next to them in their beds to keep them from freezing on cold nights and sharing their water rations with the roses.

They transported them by means of rose cuttings stuck in potatoes, starts planted in tin cans or tea cups and even by sewing the root bundle into the bottom hem of their woolen skirts.  In this way, her rose would received water from the moisture her skirt would absorb as she walked in the grasses laden with morning dew.

The rose was planted close to the new home when they arrived on their homestead.

The Harison Rose was so often seen growing along the Oregon Trail that it became known as the Oregon Trail Rose. Other women brought this rose with them during the Gold Rush.  In those regions, the rose became known as Miners “Wifes” Gold.  It was also brought to Texas by pioneer women, and is now referred to as the Yellow Rose of Texas.

Today you can still see these roses growing alongside an old homestead or perhaps where an old homestead once stood.

These beautiful yellow roses remain a living tribute to the women who carried their roses as they walked behind a Conestoga wagon, each woman unsure of her survival while ensuring her rose’s.  Planting the roots of her cherished rose while trying to establish her own roots in this new land.

In our newly planted garden, you can see a small start of a new Harison Rose, that will grow alongside irises and ranunculus.”

As the garden grows and the spreads its leaves, it can’t help but to be nourished by the attention of the many who will grow with it.