SALT LAKE CITY — How do you move an entire farm… lock, stock, and barrels… even the soil? The people who run the Wasatch Community Garden say it's done very carefully and methodically.
The Green Phoenix Farm, just west of Gateway, has been home to the garden since 2016. At the time the garden was granted its lease by Salt Lake City, organizers weren’t sure it would last more than a few years. Now, with massive development in and around downtown, the 1.4 acre farm is on the move.
“What we‘re pulling off right now is incredibly difficult, incredibly challenging,” said James Loomis, Director of Agricultural Operations. “It’s pandemonium! There’s a lot of moving parts between the two sites.”
Teddy Roosevelt once said nothing worth having comes easy, and Loomis believes passionately in what the farm brings to our community, and it’s more than organic fruits and vegetables.
“Our primary purpose is to provide a home for our job training program where women who are facing homelessness can come and have an opportunity to have a permanent, supportive employment environment, and help them just rebuild their lives,” he added.
That’s what keeps garden staff motivated to finish the move and start fresh in Glendale.
“Our organization, this farm is a living organism and these things, evolve and change is necessary," Loois said. “But knowing this farm had to move from the beginning, I had already designed and planned for that.”
Loomis will miss the vibe and sense of community that’s developed around the downtown farm.
“Which I think is something we’ll be transplanting over to Glendale, I just won’t have a place to get a cold beer right across the street after work," he joked. "So I’ll miss that part of it.”
In the meantime, everyone is encouraged to plant a garden and cultivate your own community.
“Share a tomato with your neighbor! A fresh tomato, like this time of year, will generally rebuild all bridges and heal all wounds with your neighbors,” Loomis exclaimed.
The new Wasatch Community Garden in Glendale should be replanted and operational by later this fall.
