THE VINEGAR HILL COMMUNITY GARDEN AT THE301
A COLLABORATION BETWEEN VHNA AND INSTINCT FITNESS AND WELLNESS
Want to help?
Do you enjoy tending to plants? Growing? Weeding? Watering? Building? Spreading the word about community happenings? We would love to employ your superpowers in support of The Garden.
FAQs
When can I help in The Garden?
We are currently working at The Garden Sunday mornings at 9:00 - 11:00 AM. You are welcome to come during those times to lend a hand.
In cases of inclement weather, we will not work in The Garden.
Can I harvest food from The Garden?
You are welcome to come to The Garden during the above-mentioned work time, and we can support you in harvesting. We may also have special harvesting events where you are welcome to come and share in The Garden's bounty.
Email springfieldvhna@gmail.com with any interests, questions, and garden ideas.
Our Story
2024: We began collaborating on the community garden, located at 1200 S. Pasfield (on the northwest side of The301's property), with Instinct Fitness and Wellness. The seedlings and starter plants that we planted were donated to us from various generous organizations.
Trellises, tomato cages, tools, and time were donated by the community.
Many of the seeds used were donated to us by the Enos Park Neighborhood Garden for use in the 2025 season.
2025: We met and began discussing The Garden plan and goals for the season. Expansion, intentionality, and soil remediation were the focus.
VHNA was awarded a Community Grant from the Springfield Civic Garden Club. The monies were used to extend the garden, remediate the soil, install fencing, and more! Many thanks to the Springfield Civic Garden Club for the grant and opportunities we were afforded because of that funding.
We got to work with Garden Work Parties, a Garden Bash and Porch Crawl, garden caretaking, and harvesting.
At the end of the year, we created a Dogs of the Garden Calendar from photos of all of the very good boys who came to visit us throughout the garden season. Folks to give a donation for a calendar, and that money went toward the purchase of seeds and other garden supplies for the 2026 season.
2026: We got back to work with planning and mapping out the garden layout, ordering seeds and supplies, and having a Garden Steward meeting to discuss projects for the season:
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a new composting system
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a new watering system
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learning about seed saving
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learning more about trimming and how to care best for our raspberry and blackberry plants
We received another generous grant from the Springfield Civic Garden Club to help with some of these items and with the purchase of a new trellis. The trellis was assembled by a group from UIS on the United Way Day of Action; they also helped with some planting.
Folks come each Sunday to help plant, weed, and care for this beautiful space, and the garden journey continues into its third year.
