Join the Plant a Row Campaign, Green Thumb or No!

by Teri McGrath

As you may know, for the past two years participants in the Plant a Row Campaign, sponsored by Okie Magazine, have grown food in their gardens to donate to the Lawton Food Bank.

This year, students at Cameron University are participating by donating three 20 by 20 plots in Cameron's Community Garden. The student organization Moms and Dads on Campus, which is a group for Cameron students who are raising families, is leading the way on this project, which will create wonderful opportunities throughout the summer for Lawtonians, young and old, to learn and to contribute meaningfully to our community. Last month, folks representing Native American Club, Lawton Diversified, along with one reporter from the Cameron Collegian, participated in preparing the soil in two of the plots, under the guidance of Cozzie Burrus, president of Moms and Dads on Campus, and her father Devon Burrus, who kindly let me use his tiller twice, despite my incompetence. More school organizations and other members of the community will join the effort as the project progresses. We are also lucky to have the guidance of Susen Hunter, a local gardener who participated in the Plant a Row Campaign last year, and participation from other members of the Lawton community, including some Lawton Rollergirls (!!!) helped us plant rows of okra, radishes, tomatoes, onions, and peppers.

Children were especially encouraged to attend a "work day" on Saturday, April 23rd, when they planted a variety of seeds in a plot they will manage by themselves.

In addition to maintaining the garden, Cameron students will host a series of events--including workshops, potlucks and creative celebrations to help make this experience as useful to the community as it can be. If you are a gardener and want to participate in the Plant a Row Campaign, the absolute best thing to do would be to find the Plant a Row Campaign Lawton on Facebook and join the conversation. Moms and Dads will keep the group updated on their progress and their needs, so that's a good place to go if you want to be involved in the community garden project as well. If you don't like the facebook, send me an email, and I'll send you updates myself: theterimcgrath@gmail.com

For now, just start spreading the news by inviting people to our group.

[Note: This article appeared in the May 2011 issue of Okie Magazine]