3 Apple Valley Gardens Hosting Celebrations for Community Garden Day

Three Apple Valley gardens will host celebrations Saturday for Community Garden Day, which is recognized not just in Apple Valley but throughout the Twin Cities.

The Partnership Garden maintained at Apple Valley's , the Westview Elementary School community garden and the community garden all will participate, hosting free garden tours for a few hours on Saturday.

At the events, community gardeners also will be able to explain the history of each garden, their impact on the community and what their future might look like, said Margaret Shields, education and outreach coordinator for Gardening Matters, via email.

Gardening Matters is the Minneapolis community gardening nonprofit that organizes Community Garden Day, which is also meant to acknowledge the work that volunteers put into the gardens, Shields wrote.

In Apple Valley:

• Garden volunteers will be at the Partnership Garden from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday to talk about organic gardening, composting, healthy eating ideas, wind turbines, green roofs, recycling and more. The Partnership Garden is a fairly new sustainable, organic garden maintained by the group Growing Community and School of Environmental Studies students.

• Shepherd of the Valley members will offer garden tours from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

• Westview garden volunteers will offer information about the nutrition in garden produce—and student artwork will be on display—from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Several other gardens in the south metro, and about 50 throughout the state, also will host activities.

Most community gardens serve to produce food, but their other purposes include beautifying the neighborhood, building community, providing education, engaging youth and even providing therapy. More than 350 gardens exist in Minnesota, according to Gardening Matters.