RCGC’s Community Garden Project takes root for 43rd year in existence

Director Henry Ryder has had a plot in the gardens for 42 years and believes the sense of community keeps participants committed.

Rowan College at Gloucester County opened its community garden more than 40 years ago with the help of then professor and Foundation Board member Carl Chance. When Chance retired in the 1980s, economics instructor Henry Ryder took his place, directing the program ever since.

Offering approximately 115 plots, Ryder said individuals who otherwise may not be allowed to have a garden, who live in apartments or have limited yard space, or even have retired and participate to stay active, can grow vegetables, plants, fruit and flowers. The Community Garden Project provides plots that are 20 feet by 30 feet for a donation of $25. Additional plots are $20. The money raised goes toward the RCGC Foundation for scholarships, having raised more than $50,000 since the project began, according to Ryder.

“The garden gives people a chance to have a garden who otherwise couldn’t have one,” Ryder said. “We had a couple people with canes last year saying, ‘I hope we can do this this year.’”

Everyone is welcome to join the gardening community. Ryder said they’ve had gardeners from beyond Gloucester County, traveling from Camden, Audubon and Philadelphia.

“The benefits of a community garden is growing fresh vegetables that are good for your diet,” Ryder said. “There’s camaraderie, it’s like a community; they have friends out there.”

Located south of the main RCGC parking lot, the garden is between the lot and the Bankbridge Development Center. Gardeners are able to begin planting as soon as the ground is ready in March. The season comes to an end and gardeners must clean their spaces by the beginning of December.

This season will be Ryder’s 42nd year gardening in the RCGC Community Garden Project. According to Ryder, eight other gardeners have been there for at least 30 years, and approximately 16 gardeners have been there for more than 10 years.

“Millennials are less interested than the older people,” Ryder said. “The people that we have here are committed to it.”

For more information on how to reserve a plot at the RCGC Community Garden Projects, visit www.rcgc.edu, or call (856) 415–2145.