ELLENSBURG — Ellensburg resident Jim McGreevy grows his own crops on a plot of land, cultivating a variety of produce such as carrots, onions and squash. However, his vegetables aren’t located out of town or in an expansive backyard garden. Instead, 28-year-old McGreevy grows them at the community garden next to St. Andrew’s Catholic Church.

“This is my balance. I can work any job all day long if I still get to garden,” McGreevy said.

McGreevy and many other Ellensburg residents get the chance to indulge their green thumb at the community garden, a roughly half-an-acre space with numerous plots available for would-be-gardeners. The garden tripled in size from last year and now has 40 plots, community garden main contact Martha Pitts said, giving even more gardeners an opportunity to experience sustainable living.

“The interaction with other gardeners has been a great experience,” Pitts said. “Gardening is a peaceful way of life.”

Gardeners are required to keep their weeds in check and also donate one-half hour of work per week to upkeep of the garden area as a whole, she said. Regular-sized garden plots without an inner bed cost $15 per season and plots with two raised beds cost $20, Pitts said.

The original community garden began on Helena Street about Five years ago. The garden had to find a new home when the owners of that property put it up for sale, Pitts said. Two of its founding members, Don Davis and Jim Toboni, realized St. Andrew’s Church would be a good location for a new garden. They received permission from the church, and the garden moved to its current location in 2006, Pitts said.

In addition to teaching locals the joys of gardening, the community garden dedicates 1,980 square feet of its half-acre space to growing food for Ellensburg’s food bank, said gardener and community garden volunteer Joan Bennett. Gardeners with extra produce on their plots usually donate to the food bank as well, she added.

“The food bank part of this is so important,” said Ellensburg resident Loran Cutsinger, who has a plot at the garden. “A big swath of this garden goes to food bank donations.”

The community garden currently donates 75 to 100 pounds of produce per week to the food bank, said Roger McCune, FISH food bank program director.

Unfortunately, the community garden has experienced several thefts recently, McGreevy said. He was one of the first gardeners to notice the thefts, which have since occurred at least once every few days. McGreevy’s onions have been the most commonly stolen vegetable, while radishes, squash, and carrots have disappeared as well. McGreevy originally thought kids were behind the raids, but decided adults were most likely to blame after seeing how organized and systematic the thefts have been.

“It’s kind of disheartening,” said McGreevy, who has put up a larger fence around his plot and increased his vigilance.

However, a few thefts won’t deter the gardeners and their passion for growing their own food.

“We’ve realized we need to know what is in our food more than ever,” Cutsinger said. “I love being here and having a quiet, peaceful time, and I love eating the food.”

As a professor of anthropology at Central Washington University, Cutsinger is interested in the cultural origins of gardening, and realized the community garden was a learning opportunity for her students. She recruited volunteers from her Introduction to Cultural Anthropology class to work in the garden last spring, and they filmed a short video about the community garden, Cutsinger said.

The self reliant aspect of gardening attracted McGreevy, who has a degree in sustainable agriculture from Evergreen State College. He plans to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who was a successful farmer himself.

“One of the most fundamental things you can do as a human being is grow your own food,” McGreevy said. 

McGreevy sees farming as a key component to the economic success of local communities in the future.

“Small scale farming needs to come back,” McGreevy said. “It’s an important part of humanity.”