…by Karen Fleur Tofti-Tufarelli…
Michael Stanley and his wife, Carol, began the Federal Way Community Garden in 2008 to fill a very basic need: giving underserved seniors good, organic food. They saw an opportunity to create something beautiful for the community that, at the same time, would provide fresh, organically grown fruits and vegetables. Michael Stanley notes that some seniors are unable to get to food banks. Even when they can, there is sometimes a dearth of good produce.
As the Garden has evolved to include beehives and support from over 30 community businesses and organizations (their names are noted on flower-shaped posts in the garden beds), it has also introduced the community to an ornamental garden concept—modeled after the Rosemary Verey Garden the Stanley’s visited in England—where fruit trees, herbs, and flowers can share space with vegetables. The Garden uses raised beds planted very intensively, according to Stanley.
After a 35-year career as a Boeing project and engineering manager, Stanley—a longtime gardener—originated the garden idea and began searching for a site. He was referred to Nathan Brown, Executive Director of the Federal Way Senior Center.
“Mike Stanley stops into my office,” Brown recalled. “Mike tells me he lives nearby and that he couldn’t help but notice that we’ve got a great start to a garden. He asks if we’d like some help. He’s a Master Gardener. ‘Oh, and by the way,’ Mike says, ‘I have this project proposal and garden plan.’ ” Brown said that Stanley then pulled out a detailed schematic of the design of the garden. “It was amazing!”
In September 2008, building of the garden began. “We were harvesting food out of it the following May,” Stanley said. Ten thousand pounds of produce was harvested in 2009. “And all of it was given away,” said Stanley.
The produce is given to seniors through Meals on Wheels, the Federal Way Senior Center and a senior housing complex. “It’s something that the community has reacted really positively to,” adds Stanley. “It’s an opportunity to make Federal Way a little better place.”
For Stanley, one of the most personally rewarding aspects of the Garden has been getting to know the 100+ volunteers, ranging in age from the 20s to 70s. “A lot of people who volunteer are looking for a way to give back to the community,” he adds.
Part of the garden is wheelchair and walker accessible. About six of the 56 raised beds are 30 inches high: those in a wheelchair can tend them.
Over the next 10 years, the Federal Way Community Gardens Foundation is planning to build 20 similar gardens around Federal Way. In September, a garden is slated to open at Federal Way’s Truman High School. “The students will be involved in the garden as well as the community,” said Stanley.
The Federal Way Community Garden is very unusual, Stanley said, because “it’s a very beautiful garden in addition to being very productive. “It isn’t every [vegetable] garden that has a fountain in the middle and hanging baskets.”
The Federal Way Community Garden is located onsite at the Federal Way Senior Center: 4016 South 352nd Street. For more information call 253-279-6443 or visit www.federalwaycommunitygarden.org.
This article first appeared in the July/August 2010 issue of Northwest Prime Time, the Puget Sound region’s monthly publication celebrating life after 50. For more information, visit www.NorthwestPrimeTime.com
