New sets of hands will tend to Newtown Victory Garden's management this spring.

Gail Friedman will manage the garden along with her committee of three additional women - Anne Marie Roller, Pamela Wilson, and Barbara Richardson. Former manager and garden founder Harvey Pessin (on the right in the above photo, standing within the garden with wife Brid Craddock in May 2016) is stepping down, and already this winter, the women have begun garden planning for the coming season.

The garden, which Mr Pessin started in 2011, is a community project run by volunteers. All produce is donated to Newtown's food pantries and to Nunnawauk Meadows.

Planting The First Seed

Thinking back to the garden's beginnings, Mr Pessin said, "I used to grow tomato plants, and had extra. I would bring them to the food pantry and clients would take plants home and grow them on their own." That was his first connection with the food pantry. "One year I didn't do it, and got pushback, and that's when I understood how important it was."

His idea to plant a garden came from article he read about the Judea Garden in Washington, "a community garden that grows food for the needy," he said. "I sent an e-mail to them and someone actually returned my call."

Mr Pessin next met with the garden founder "at Starbucks on a cold wintry day, and she told me her business plan, where she went for grants, what she did, and that really inspired me and I thought I could do it."

His "talking campaign" began. "I started to talk to people around town and the impetus to really get it going was John Reed, a neighbor I told." Mr Reed called Parks and Recreation Director Amy Mangold.

"She is a back-to-the earth, and do-good person, and she called me," Mr Pessin said. "I met with her and we planned the garden together and I made a proposal to the Parks and Rec Commission. They liked the idea."

Fairfield Hills Authority (FHA) also liked the idea, "and that is really how it started."

FHA allowed Mr Pessin to use land at Fairfield Hills, and Parks and Rec "provided machinery for me to create the garden," also assisting in other ways.

"Nothing would have happened without the support of the Parks and Rec Department," Mr Pessin said.

Locations for the garden changed twice due to other projects taking place at Fairfield Hills, but its current location is near Stratford Hall in a field just beyond Washington Square.

"The prime directive was to give food; it goes to the Food Pantry at Social Services, and Nunnawauk Meadows," Mr Pessin said. FAITH Food Pantry has also benefited from the garden's bounty over the years.

Teams of volunteers adopt and manage their own rows with two rules: no herbicides or pesticides, and all food goes to the needy, he said.

"The garden has really become established and groups that work there are more diverse now," Mr Pessin said. Volunteers include Scouts, civic groups, "and that's very satisfying to see those groups take this on."

Adding to the garden in past years are fruit trees and a beekeeper.

"It has grown," Mr Pessin said. However, "I have taken it as far as I could, and was getting frustrated." He welcomes the new committee "with more wherewithal to explore the garden for additional things." With the garden as a focal point, Mr Pessin said, "There are many other things that can leapfrog from the garden."

Mentioning Reed Intermediate School teacher Dawn Ford, who uses a science curriculum that involves doing experiments with the students, Mr Pessin said, "They used the Victory Garden as an experimental lab last year and it was so exciting to see kids come up with theories and test them." Their experiment was how to get rid of woodchucks, he said. "They started with theories and research and made presentations and they raised money … and it worked."

He said, "I wish I could do more like that. I want to do more like that, I just wasn't able to."

He passed the garden to Gail Friedman.

"She was a master gardener intern, and she did public service with Victory Garden. I approached her about taking it over," said Mr Pessin.

Ms Friedman "got together with other gardeners to form a committee and they are going to take over management," he continued. "They plan on outreach to other groups to use the garden to get more people involved."

"People have been asking about why I'm leaving - it's not about me. The garden stands alone, and it should keep going," he said. Mr Pessin has started volunteering with Newtown Forest Association, "and it's almost full time," he said.

A Fresh Start

In the early spring of 2017 and the garden's early planning stages, Gail Friedman took a UConn Master Gardener course that required community outreach.

"I asked Harvey to work on the Victory Garden and he was happy to accommodate me," Ms Friedman said. "He asked if I would be interested in taking over the management and I said, 'I think I would need a committee because I could not possibly do all that you do.'"

She said, "I got some volunteers, three other women on board." Mr Pessin had assured her that "he was not disappearing, and he would be available for advice, and of course, Parks and Recreation is so helpful and supportive," Ms Friedman said. She has already met with them for planning.

In preparation, Ms Friedman said, "We have been visiting other community gardens and seeing their success and seeing how they are expanding." She noted that some gardens include architectural enhancements: "Wooden enclosures for the beds that helps with controlling weeds and keeping the water where you want it. So we are considering a fundraiser to make a big difference in efficiency of the garden." She and her committee also are considering other ways to fundraise and generate support for the Victory Garden.

Most rows already have volunteer teams waiting to tend them, she said. She will be sending application forms out to confirm that volunteers are claiming their rows. If not, rows will go "to the next in line," she said. Her committee is also considering how best to organize what crops members grow.

"We also like to talk to the food banks and find out which vegetables are most popular. People who go to food the pantry tend to need tried and true and we want to be sure we are meeting needs," she said.

She is already anticipating spring activities.

"We have an upcoming party in the spring that Parks and Recreation sponsors and we want to highlight the garden at that time and get more support or volunteers," Ms Friedman said. The date is May 20, "when the garden will be up and running."

[naviga:img class="aligncenter wp-image-301812" src="https://newtownbee.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Pessin-stepping-down-as-Victory-Garden-lead-Craddock-Pessin-in-garden-May-2016-Bee-file-photo-WATERMARKED.jpg" alt="Pessin stepping down as Victory Garden lead -- Craddock & Pessin in garden May 2016 Bee file photo WATERMARKED" width="800" height="535" /]

Landscape designer and master gardener Brid Craddock and her husband, Harvey Pessin, standing in the growing area at the Victory Garden during the May 2016 Garden Party. Mr Pessin has announced his is stepping down from managing the community garden he helped create in 2011.

-Bee file photo

[naviga:img class="aligncenter wp-image-301813" src="https://newtownbee.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Pessin-stepping-down-as-Victory-Garden-lead-RIS-students-in-garden-June-2017-Bee-file-photo-WATERMARKED.jpg" alt="Pessin stepping down as Victory Garden lead -- RIS students in garden June 2017 Bee file photo WATERMARKED" width="800" height="369" /]

Reed Intermediate School sixth grade students are seen within the Victory Garden in this June 2017 photo. The students were putting into action experimental - and environmentally friendly - deterrents to try to rid the garden of groundhogs.

-Bee file photo