The Mosaic Community Land Trust is joining Morningstar Fellowship’s “Love Week” this month by doing maintenance and special gardening projects throughout Pottstown.
Morningstar Fellowship, which has church services both in Bechtelsville and Pottstown, will celebrate Love Week July 23 through July 28. The week-long event includes doing community service projects throughout the area such as painting buildings, cleanups and now gardening through Mosaic.
Daniel Price, Mosaic Pottstown community garden manager, said these types of community activities are meant to get more people out to see what their neighborhood or nearby neighborhoods has to offer.
“They gain awareness of the beauty within their own community,” he said.
There will be “Love Week” tasks at all four of the community gardens in the borough. On Monday, from 5 to 8 p.m., Mosaic will kickoff the week with general maintenance and building a miniature vertical farm at the 615 Chestnut St. garden. The vertical farm will be made by building cinder block planters.
On Tuesday, from 5 to 8 p.m., volunteers will help build raised garden beds and do general maintenance at the Barth Elementary School garden which has community plots. Price said a rain garden might also be built during this time at that location. Then on Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m., Mosaic will work at their one and only permaculture garden which is located at 301 Walnut St. The permaculture garden is filled with edible plants such as apples and peaches. The green space isn’t locked and is open for the community to visit at their leisure. Benches have recently been added to the garden.
“Hopefully we can build a stage there so people can have community events,” Price said in reference to what he wants to accomplish during Love Week.
Mosaic will end Love Week on Saturday by cleaning and weeding the 423 Chestnut St. community garden from 8 a.m. to noon. People can sign-up to participate in Love Week at Mosaic by visiting mstar.churchcenter.com/groups/love-week-groups or by emailing Price at DanielPPrice@hotmail.com.
Love week is just one of the many community engagement activities Mosaic has offered this summer. Last month, the community land trust had their first combined Pottstown and Boyertown self-guided garden tour. Participants were given a map that included six gardens in Pottstown and five in Boyertown.
“It’s important to highlight all the beautiful spaces in this community that people otherwise wouldn’t have known about,” Price said.
The tour featured general gardens, some of the Mosaic community gardens and a few entered in this year’s Home Garden Contest. This is Rich Cressman’s fourth year entering the contest and his home garden was included in the Pottstown portion of the tour. This year, Cressman entered the flower garden category. A variety of colorful flowers are displayed around his home including daffodils and lilies.
“I get people stopping to look all the time,” he said. “It’s nice when people appreciate what you do.”
The tour was a fundraiser for the contest which was opened to residents of the Pottstown and Boyertown Boroughs. Winners receive cash prizes. As another fundraiser for the tour, Mosaic and the rest of the Home Garden Contest committee organized the first Annual Solstice Party in June. The party was held at the home of Gretchen Lea, a Boyertown representative on the Home Garden Contest committee and Penn State Extension master gardener. Price said the party was great and showcased Gretchen’s beautiful property which has a variety of gardens. The fundraiser brought in about $1,000 to go toward the contest.
For more information about Mosaic and on becoming garden member, visit the website at mosaicclt.org.