Lemmon Rd (where John Adams intersects with Mt. Lemmon Rd) was always known as "Wood Field" after Elizabeth Lambert Wood. She was a local philanthropist who donated the land for the children of Oracle. For many years it had a well with a hand pump that anyone in the community could use, including horseback riders passing by the site. At one point it was used as a skate park. In the fall of 2016,
a group of Oracle residents began pursuing the idea of leasing the property from Pinal County for a community garden, and dedicate it to the children of Oracle. During 2017, we held more Community wide meetings, gaining ideas and discussing a vision for the project. We also attained nonprofit 501(c)3 status - Creative Community Solutions serves as our fiscal sponsor. We created a page, and our email list of interested people continued to grow. We are all excited for this vision to become a reality! In February of 2018, we published our first newsletter titled “Garden Talk”. On April 18, 2018, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to accept the lease on the garden property. Throughout June and July 2018, numerous volunteers from the Oracle Community stepped up and joined in a variety of work crews to erect a fence, eradicate bermuda grass, build raised beds, and more. On July 31, 2018 we held our inaugural event “Dessert in the Garden”. It was a great celebration, and the first seeds were planted by attendees. Weeks later, we had the first bed filled with rapidly growing and lush plants of amaranth, zinnias, green beans, zucchini, basil, and more! On October 28, 2018, we re-ignited the tradition of Fiesta de las Calabazas. There were garden-related activities for all ages, including seed planting, pumpkin decorating, a singalong with Freddie Terry (Oracle’s Singing Beekeeper), hopscotch, and music by Mother Cody. Wendy and Dan were selling their delicious tacos, with all proceeds going to the Garden. We also had a ceremony to dedicate the raised garden beds. We plan to make this an annual event!
