Creative Assets For Central Ohio (CAFCO) is searching for volunteers to assist with the construction of the nonprofit organization’s third Plant Library, which is set to open in Delaware’s Boardman Arts Park this year.
Members of the community will be meeting from 12-4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 7, and Saturday, Aug. 13, to put the roof on the structure and complete the remaining construction. Anyone with basic construction skills is welcome to participate, and no prior registration or sign-up is necessary.
The concept of The Plant Library is to offer a community garden where residents can “take a plant, leave a plant, and leave the area better than you found it,” according to Delaware resident Angela Mack. Community members are free to leave seeds, starter plants, or plants that need re-homed in the garden. While at the Plant Library, if members of the community see a plant they are interested in, they are also free to take those plants home.
“No money exchanges hands, and the community uses this space along with social media to gather together over the love of all things green,” Mack said.
The push to bring a Plant Library location to town began when Delaware citizens heard about the concept and reached out to CAFCO to inquire about Delaware’s potential as a third garden. Community members then raised more than $2,000 to be put towards the building fund, and CAFCO covered the rest of the expenses. Once completed, the Delaware Plant Library will join established garden locations in Marysville and Gahanna.
Mack told The Gazette the Plant Library concept was developed by CAFCO as “a central location in the community where people can freely share the love of plants and gardening.”
All types of plants are welcomed in the garden, including herbs, vegetables, perennials and annuals. Each location has a primary volunteer that oversees the upkeep of the garden, and Mack will serve as the lead for the Delaware location.
CAFCO Founder Matt Roberson said the concept of a community garden began out of a simple “brainstorming moment,” which led to the creation of the Gahanna Plant Library. The Gahanna location is finishing up its fourth season, while the Marysville location is currently in its second season.
“We were looking at different community opportunities that gave people space to interact and meet each other. Gahanna has a big gardening community, so it just kind of came together that way,” Roberson said.
He went on to say, “With the Plant Library, we have three core values — generosity, curiosity and community. And a project like the Plant Library, its purpose is community enhancement. That’s our nonprofit value, and we strive to increase those three things. So, giving people an outlet to both give and receive through generosity, creating that natural curiosity that we have for growing things and giving people resources for that, and also creating a community for people to come together, support each other, and have fun.”
