The Enos Park Neighborhood Garden

10/19/2026

This is 170 cloves of garlic ready to go in the ground this week, from garlic we saved from our harvest earlier this summer. We're very excited about our prospects for harvesting next year!

10/14/2026

Our partnership with Individual Advocacy Group (IAG) was a success in 2026! Individuals enrolled with IAG have intellectual disabilities and often behavioral challenges. Educational Coordinator Alana Reynolds offered programming three times each week from May through September, with an emphasis on gardening, food, and socializing.

Seventeen individuals took part this summer, with 148 total engagements. The weather was a challenge, with some days being rained out while others were just too hot to enjoy. But when classes were held, individuals had a wonderful time!

This educational opportunity was funded by the garden through sponsorships. We'd like to thank Kumler Outreach Ministries, Memorial Health, HSHS St. Johns, Dominican Sisters, Scheels, Ryan Electric, John Shafer and Associates, and Bank of Springfield for sponsoring the garden in 2026. These unrestricted funds help out in ways that grants often cannot, and provide a way to fund spontaneous collaborations, such as our partnership with IAG.

10/08/2026

We’re happy to announce that 54 individual children took part in our children’s programming in 2026!

Our Education Coordinator, Alana Reynolds, led Kids Fare Garden Club, which took place in our children’s garden from May through August, as well as Eat A Rainbow, a 10-week series of ecology classes.

Many thanks to Dr. John Flack of SIU School of Medicine, who funded our children’s programming in 2026!

10/07/2026

Money invested in our community gardens can make a huge difference in the impact we make!

A community garden on the east side of Springfield continues to deal with the fallout of delays to federal funding that the nonprofit had counted on to expand its capacity. Democrat Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) was on hand at Motherland Community Project on Tuesday afternoon to speak with t...

10/04/2026

Thank you to Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA) for inviting me to present at their state-wide conference last week on the healing nature of gardens! I had a wonderful time interacting with the folks who attended my presentation as we shared our own strategies, tools, and support systems for healing from trauma.

It may not be apparent, but many of the people who volunteer and work at our garden have undergone significant trauma throughout their lives, self included. One thing I highlighted in my talk was how much it helps me personally to transition through the seasons of the year, which makes me feel a small but necessary part of something so much bigger than myself. It reminds me that even when I personally get overdone with the stress and triggers in my life, that the moon will keep on waning and waxing, ready for me to rejoin the cycles of life as I am able to do so.

Part of being a presenter was the privilege of attending workshops, which I did on Wednesday and Thursday. As you can imagine, especially with what's been headlining the news in the last week, it was an emotion-filled time that has taken a lot to process. I'm so impressed with the caliber of folks who do this for a living! I've not sure I've ever met a more caring, empathetic, and knowledgable group of people who are doing the hard work of healing individuals in our communities.

A special thanks to Bree, Megan, and Jeri at ICASA for helping me settle in, answer questions, and calm my nerves!

10/03/2026

Many thanks to this fine volunteer crew from Hanson Engineers, and to United Way for organizing the Fall Day of Action! We got a lot of neglected items marked off the list yesterday, including finishing weeding our strawberry patch, clearing out the North fenceline, weeding one of our pollinator patches as well as the paw paw patch, cleaning all of our harvest bins, and removing and putting away the greenhouse shadecloth as well as the shade umbrella in our wheelchair-accessible garden. What a beautiful day in the garden!

10/02/2026

The garden will be open for volunteering this afternoon for the United Way's Fall Day of Action from 1-4. We're excited to host a group of volunteers from Hanson Engineering, as well as a few other folks from different workplaces. The general public is welcome to come and volunteer also!

It's a simply gorgeous day! If you're looking for an excuse to be out in it, come volunteer with us! We still have plenty to do to wrap up the garden for the season.

09/29/2026

Many thanks to this volunteer group from FAST Enterprises who helped out at the garden Monday night! We were able to get most of the way through weeding the strawberry patch.

Super thanks to Levi, Jonah, and Sampson, who were awesome at hauling the weedy debris to the compost pile!

09/29/2026

Join us this morning from 9-11 to finish clearing out the communal garden!

09/28/2026

Many thanks to our Saturday crew for harvesting, helping to clear out the garden, and planting cover crops! We've really appreciated the extra help this year from medical students at SIU School of Medicine!