NORTON SHORES, MI – A garden share in Norton Shores gives away free seedlings to the community, encouraging people to start gardens and grow their own food.
The small wooden stand stuffed with sprouting plants tells anyone to “take some or leave some.”
Hundreds of seedlings have been transplanted and rehomed since Bethany Cramblet started the project a year ago. She noticed small plants popping up in her compost last summer and decided to give them away instead of tilling them under the soil.
“As they grew, we had hundreds of tomatoes, some bell pepper plants, all sorts of different seedlings that were just propagating themselves right out,” she said.
Inspired by the idea of a little free library, Cramblet and her partner, Stephen Proctor, built the garden share out of scrap wood and placed it in their front yard.
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People have since stopped by every day during the growing season to take home a little cup of dirt with the early beginnings of a garden.
“There are so many people that I had contact with last year that said if it wasn’t for the garden share, they wouldn’t have a garden,” Cramblet said.
An estimated 700 seedlings were handed out last summer.
At her Norton Shores home, Cramblet grows various tomatoes, an herb garden, borage edible flowers, rhubarb, corn, peas, baby watermelons, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, carrots and onions.
Most of those plants end up in the garden share.
“They’re just remnants of the food that we eat in our home and we compost,” she said.
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Cramblet began consistently gardening four years ago and it has since taken over her yard with three garden beds, a six-by-six-foot watermelon patch and corn growing along the edges of her property.
She finds satisfaction in getting her hands dirty, focusing on the work and feeding her family with food she grew.
Cramblet hopes giving away the seedlings for free inspires others to try planting food.
“I feel like gardening is something that is so impactful in my life that I want to be able to share that with other people,” she said. “I want it to be something that makes their day a little brighter, brings a little happiness to them.”
The garden share, 1539 W. Norton Ave., opened to the community at the beginning of June for anyone to stop by and take or leave plants.
“Just tell your friends, here’s the seedlings, go plant something and make your life a little better. That’s all I ask for because this doesn’t cost me money,” Cramblet said.
More information about the garden share and the available seedlings can be found on its Facebook page.
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