Cortland Community Learning Garden Talks on UW Cortland’s Day of Caring
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X101’s Mike Eves recently had a chance to talk with the Cortland Community Learning Garden’s Volunteer Coordinator Johnathan Rzepka on the upcoming Day of Caring, put on by the United Way for Cortland County. The Learning Garden was selected as the site the United Way and it’s volunteers would assist the non-profit. The Day of Caring is coming up on October 17th at the Learning Garden, located on South Ave. in the City of Cortland.
Click here for audio transcript. Audio transcription is edited for content.
Mike Eves: It’s X101 Always Classic. I’m Mike Eves. In the studio with us, John Rozehnska from the Cortland Community Learning Garden. They’re a newer non-profit, and John, we want to welcome you into the studio. A big day’s coming up for you, of course, a United Way Day of Caring, but we won’t give away too much. But John, I want to welcome you here into the studio.
Johnathan Rzepka: Thank you for having me, Mike. Very happy to be here.
Mike Eves: Yes, so it’s pretty cool, the Cortland Community Learning Garden. If you want to tell us a little bit about it, its location, and what you guys have been up to, that’d be great for those who are not familiar with the Learning Garden.
Johnathan Rzepka: Yes, thank you so much. So, we are a non-profit right off of South Ave here in Cortland. And we are a community garden, and we’re a little different than the typical model. We really want to emphasize community first and foremost with a lot of what we do. So, as opposed to having people rent out individual garden beds or be responsible for just one spot, we have it just be a universal garden bed that the community can come in and just really make the space what they want to see and what they want it to be.
Mike Eves: That that’s awesome too, especially for someone who’s maybe not quite sure, how much gardening do I want to get into? Hey, I’m, you know, I’m unfamiliar with growing, saying, veggies or fruits or something, or just growing things in general. That that’s pretty cool. You don’t have to commit. And it’s about learning, so I think that’s a that’s a pretty cool opportunity too, right, John?
Johnathan Rzepka: Yeah, absolutely. So that is really a core tenet of what we try to provide for the public is a space to learn. So, as where some gardens there might be a push about, you know, garden this way, or this how you’re going to get the biggest yield. We love people to just come in and try out things, and if it doesn’t work out, plants die, it’s not a real big concern for us on the plants making it to the end. It’s more about having people feel comfortable to try things, learn, make mistakes, and just still have a great time.
Mike Eves: No, that’s awesome. Pretty pretty cool. We’re talking with John Rozehnska of the Cortland Community Learning Garden. John, it’s pretty cool, too. So the United Way, um, they have a couple Day of Carings, and so they’ve chosen you guys to with their network of volunteers and things too, and and you guys are pretty excited for that. Let’s talk a little bit about the Day of Caring. You want to fill us in on the day and and what exactly is going on at the Community Learning Garden?
Johnathan Rzepka: Absolutely. So, the day will be October 17th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and we’re just really grateful to the United Way for choosing us as a site for the Day of Caring. It is going to be a big volunteer push to get a bunch of different projects done for the garden. A big one is that we will be moving a lot of the garden beds from one end of the plot down to the other. Going to need a lot of hands and a lot of enthusiastic volunteers that day. And it’s perfectly timed for kind of the relocation of a lot of our stuff. And it’s also a great opportunity for helping out the community. The United Way will be hosting a pasta and food drive as well. So, uh, at the garden, we’re going to have a few tents set up where people can bring in pasta and pasta sauce and other kind of food donations that they have listed on their website. And it’s a really great cause for filling up food pantries locally and helping out those in need.
Mike Eves: And John, where can we go to get more information or to sign up for the Day of Caring to help out the garden?
Johnathan Rzepka: We ask you that you check out the United Way’s website at UnitedWayCortland.org. And to learn more about the garden itself, check us out on our Facebook at the Cortland Community Learning Garden page.
Mike Eves: Perfect.
Mike Eves: Of course, the community garden, you guys have some needs and wants, and it’ll be a great, you know, networking opportunity too, right?
Johnathan Rzepka: Oh yeah, absolutely. We’re glad to have the wonderful people here at X101 help us out. Really put a spotlight on all this great work. And the event itself, we also have a list of things that the garden could definitely need: new tools, new materials, and of course, first and foremost, more volunteers and people. We’d love to see more of the community come on down and really enjoy the space.
Mike Eves: Yeah, no, that’s right. And hopefully, we’ll have a pretty good day. John, want to thank you for coming in here. We’re almost out of time, but anything else you want to say about the Community Learning Garden?
Johnathan Rzepka: Yeah, no, we’ll be doing a lot of changes in help with the United Way for the Day of Caring, just making the space a lot more accessible and hopefully make it someplace that the community will want to come in and really enjoy.
Mike Eves: Awesome, John. Hey, thanks so much for joining us. For X101 Always Classic, I’m Mike Eves.
