We are proud to announce that Wasatch Community Gardens (WCG) has been chosen by Smith's Food & Drug as their September 2021 Zero Hunger Hero Award recipient. “It's such an honor to receive this award from Smith's,” said WCG's Executive Director Georgina Griffith-Yates. “We have so many incredible partners throughout this community, and it means so much as each of those entities, including us, are able to be recognized and share what we're doing here so that others can come, take part in our mission, for people to be able to grow and eat local organic and healthy food.”

Click here to read the full article and to watch our spotlight on FOX13's "This Is The Place."

We are thrilled to announce that all three stops on this year's virtual Urban Garden & Farm Tour - coordinated in partnership with PBS Utah's Modern Gardener - are now live and available for viewing! Wasatch Community Gardens (WCG) annually hosts the Urban Garden & Farm Tour to generate energy, raise awareness, and share ideas about urban gardening in the Salt Lake Valley. To best navigate ever-changing COVID considerations, our in-person Tour was once again transitioned to a digital format. Join our Community Education Director Marybeth Janerich as she samples some of the most interesting, creative, and inspiring backyards, urban homesteads, and community gardens the Salt Lake Valley has to offer. This year, we visited three unique gardens:

• Gopal: New Roots community gardener
• Misty and Alan: family-friendly pollinator garden
• Lori and Dave: year-round food production with hoop houses, fruit trees, and food preservation

Click below to join us on the tour!

We celebrated the grand opening of the Richmond Park Community Garden on August 4, 2021 - WCG's 16th community garden. A big thank you to community gardeners Sean Whaley and Bailey Roberts for sharing their experiences in the garden at the event, as well as Mayor Mendenhall and Council Person Ana Valdemoros.

"For me, the garden has brought back memories of my grandfather and what he taught me about gardening," Sean said. "It brings these memories to life while also allowing me to share produce with my friends and co-workers.”

Richmond Park currently serves 33 community gardeners, with Public Pick plots outside the garden that provide fresh veggies for all to enjoy. The park is named after human rights activist and community leader Mignon Richmond Barker, who was the first African-American woman to graduate from a college in Utah. Thank you to Dr. Jackie Thompson for her excellent history lesson about Mignon at the event.

For more coverage of the event, check out KSL's article, "Pick a tomato, sunflower at Salt Lake's newest community garden, mayor says"

After nine incredible years, WCG's Executive Director Ashley Patterson is stepping down in September. We will be hosting a series of outdoor meet and greets - Open Pergola sessions - to wish Ashley a fond farewell and to welcome our incoming Executive Director, Georgina Griffith-Yates. These will be casual gatherings held on Wednesdays from August 11 to September 1, 4-6 pm. The events will be held under the pergola at Wasatch Community Gardens' Campus (629 E 800 S, SLC).

To help support the safety of our community, we are asking everyone to register for these gatherings, which will be limited to a maximum of 40 guests each week. Choose a date from the options below to reserve your spot. Please wear a mask if you are not vaccinated. We hope to see you there!

Wednesday, August 11

Wednesday, August 18

Wednesday, August 25

Wednesday, September 1

What is an insectary?  

An insectary is a planting consisting of a variety of nectar and pollen-producing plants. This diverse planting is designed to provide food and habitat for beneficial insects which are a biological control method for insect pests that can ravage our vegetable gardens, berry plantings, and fruit trees.  

Generally, flowering species are chosen so that the insectary provides a hospitable environment for not only pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, but also for other beneficial insects that help feed on or parasitize various insect pests. Both annual and perennial plants are chosen for insectaries based on their diverse flower colors, sizes, shapes (e.g., tubular vs. disk), heights and structures, scents, and other factors. For example, the scent of Black Eyed Susans is attractive to green lacewings and many bees. Lacy plants with umbel-shaped flowers, such as dill, fennel, and ammi are particularly attractive to tiny parasitic wasps that can help control the invasive Brown Marmorated Stinkbug and other insect pests. Many members of the Daisy/Aster family are attractive to mason bees and sweat bees, which are great pollinators. Anemone-type dahlias with their open, accessible centers, are a favorite food source for hummingbirds.

Check out the list of plants we selected to plant in our Wasatch Community Gardens’ Campus insectary, which measures 2’ wide by 50’ long. We included plants from different plant families with different bloom times and a variety of colors and flower shapes. We think we ended up with a gorgeous assortment of plants!

Additionally, this factsheet from Utah State University Extension, Gardening for Native Bees in Utah and Beyond, is full of helpful information about which flowering plants support our beneficial insects in Utah.  For more general information that is not Utah-specific, check out the Xerces Society and their handout on Habitat Planning for Beneficial Insects as well as this article on How to Plant Insectary Strips from Rodale Organic Institute.

Please join us in welcoming Georgina Griffith-Yates as Wasatch Community Gardens' new Executive Director! Georgina possesses an extremely solid background in nonprofit management. She has spent the last seven years in the nonprofit field, leading work to advance college and career readiness technology in Utah schools. Her expertise lies in organizational development, team leadership, marketing, and designing accessible programs for diverse populations. She has led significant organizational growth in her career and has experience with developing a collaborative vision for new and expanding programs. Quite simply, Georgina is a dynamic and visionary leader.

Georgina’s education background is impressive as well. She received her Master’s in Public Administration with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management from the University of Utah. She is currently in her third year of a PhD in Political Science, Nonprofit Management and Civil Society Track, at the University of Utah. 

Georgina loves spending time tending her garden with her wife and their menagerie of rescue animals. She is ecstatic to be at Wasatch Community Gardens, and we are, of course, ecstatic for her to join us!

Georgina will start on August 10, allowing for a full month of overlap with Ashley so that there is a smooth hand-off of the Executive Director baton. Ashley’s last day at WCG will be September 10.

Click here to learn more about Georgina. We are thrilled to have her join us!

Is your garlic ready to harvest? This quick video will walk you through the indicators to help you identify when your garlic is ready to be pulled, and demonstrate how to cure your garlic for storage (that is, if you don't plan on enjoying it right out of the ground)!

It's a popular question for gardeners in the spring: "Can I plant my seedlings in the ground now?" The short answer is, "It depends!" This quick how-to video will walk you through your three best options for planting your seedlings before consistently warm spring temperatures arrive. Choose the method that best works for you!

This quick how-to video describes the types of onion sets and starts, and then demonstrates how to properly plant them. You'll be on your way to a productive onion harvest in no time!

Learn how to trench plant your tomatoes to maintain plant health and ultimately increase your tomato harvest later in the season. This quick how-to video will also walk you through how to handle root-bound tomato seedlings and how to properly space your tomato plants.