Welcome to the Funston Neighborhood Garden
It all started when…
Cleartalk Communications purchased an empty lot at the corner of S. Broadway and Funston St. and placed a cell tower at the back corner of the property. Cleartalk reached out to the city of Wichita to see if there were any groups in the SoCe neighborhood that might be interested in starting a neighborhood garden there, rather than just having a lot that gets mowed. The answer was: Yes!
The South Central Neighborhood Association was excited by the possibility and quickly reached out to the Neighboring Movement to see if there were people or organizations in the neighborhood that might want to join together. The answer again: Yes! The Neighboring Movement asked Legacy GardenWorks if they would be willing to oversee the layout of the property and utilize some of the space for their program. The answer was: Yes!
Soon, partners were coming together, local businesses were being employed, and volunteers were coming together to make this garden possible.
What’s happening now…
The Funston Garden has been covered with a layer of cardboard and mulch to help cut back on weed invasion, and to create a new layer of soil (as the mulch breaks down). This will take some time, but once the mulch breaks down we’ll have wonderful soil to work with.
The Funston Garden also features raised beds made out of tree trunks. These beds contain mulch and limbs which will breakdown slowly over time and serve as a sponge—absorbing water and slowly releasing for plants.
The Neighboring Movement is currently in the process of building garden boxes which will line the south west corner of the lot. These boxes will be filled with a compost/soil mix which allows us to plant a few items sooner rather than later.
Join the Fun!-ston!
There are plenty of ways to join the fun. You can sponsor a bed, you can join us for occasional work days, you can hang out at the garden when you have free time, or something not listed here. If you would like to be part of the Funston Garden community, contact Matt Johnson: Matt@NeighboringMovement.org
