Mohawk Valley Featured Farm: Frankfort Community Garden

This region of the Mohawk Valley offers so much in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables along with other forms of local produce. With so many growers and producers throughout the valley, visiting a farm store, farm stand, or local community garden can be just a short drive from your home. This week, we’re excited to share our featured Mohawk Valley Farm – Frankfort Community Garden

About Frankfort Community Garden

The Frankfort Community Garden was started by a group of local residents. After moving back to Frankfort, Alexandra Tamburro saw a need for a community garden to help with food insecurity and nutrition education. She brought the idea to the Frankfort Village Board and they were in full support of creating a community garden near the Frankfort Free Library. The community garden was granted approval on a Tuesday in March of 2021 and there was a grant available with a due date that Friday. The team ended up working with Elyse Enea to apply for a grant with the Community Foundation. Herkimer County HealthNet announced the Frankfort Community Garden as the recipient of a $6,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties and the Wesley and Marion Small Fund. The grant helped to build twelve 4ft x 8ft raised beds, a water tank, purchase a shed, and a few other necessities. The first seeds were planted in May 2021 and the community garden is now a little over three years old and finishing up the fourth season of growing.

The Frankfort Community Garden

The Frankfort Community Garden provides free food to the area and fresh produce within walking distance. People are asked to take what they need and help water, weed, and keep it clean in return. The garden does not use pesticides and uses raw wood for the beds to ensure no chemicals leach into the soil. The Village of Frankfort Department of Public Works supports the garden efforts year round, from keeping the water tank full to building a platform for the tank, and the list goes on. The Community Garden Committee, which consists of Alexandra Tamburro, Erin Grygiel of Pine Hills Farmstead and Pine Hills Golf Course, Frankfort Village Clerk Karlee Tamburro, and Colleen Bentley, who decide the design and what to plant during the winter months. The Community Garden hosts seed starting gatherings, and volunteer planting days. At the end of the year, a Gratitude Gathering Dinner is held under the Harvest Full Moon. This year’s Gratitude Gathering will be on September 17th at 6PM. One of their big projects right now is creating a 30ft x 8ft pollinator garden with the help of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Herkimer County, who also did our soil testing. It has been such a gift to see the ways in which the community has taken to the garden. People donate seeds, starts, tools, time, money and resources. It is a collective effort to help each other and it truly takes a Village to keep growing.

In their own words,

Most importantly, the garden is meant to provide food, beauty, and education to our area. For us to learn how to be good stewards of the land and how to live in relationship with the earth. To not only take, but give. To not only take care of ourselves, but each other. To nourish. To learn. To grow. To share.

What you’ll find here

We encourage people to stop by and take their time in the garden. Listen and watch our pollinator friends. Help yourself to a tomato or a handful of herbs. Pull a weed or two. Give the plants a drink. Help us keep growing!

Additionally, check out the other community gardens nearby. There are community gardens in Ilion, Herkimer, and Little Falls (to name a few). We all operate slightly differently so we advise people to check in with the correct people to learn the ropes. 

Did you know…

We are working on creating a cookbook with recipes from local residents. If you have a recipe to share, please email to frankfortcommunitygarden@gmail.com or drop it off at the Village offices located at 110 Railroad St. 

Every year, many plants are donated by Erin Grygiel from Pine Hills Farmstead. She even donated and installed the metal trellis. We are incredibly grateful to be on this garden journey with her. 

Educational signage is on the horizon, along with more events!

How to find the Frankfort Community Garden

The Frankfort Community Garden is located at 123 S Frankfort St in Frankfort, NY.

You can also reach out to them by email at frankfortcommunitygarden@gmail.com

Thanks so much to Frankfort Community Garden for all they do to offer their fresh local produce to  all of us in the Mohawk Valley!

Visit Mohawk Valley Farms for the best produce

We love the region’s farms and farm stores and the dedicated families who operate them to produce the best locally grown products to feed and care for our families!

Learn more about Mohawk Valley Farms and Farm Stores right here on Mohawk Valley Today!