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The Little Free Pantry at Alan Day Community Garden in Norway is set to serve an expanded number of community members. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

NORWAY — The 2025 spring growing season could not start a minute too early, and planning at Alan Day Community Garden in Norway has been in the works for months.

Fifteen years ago, Alan Day Garden broke ground on its first community vegetable plots and facility operations. Each season brought expansion, including youth mentorship programs, educational workshops and engagement and a farmers market that brought citizens in to support growers and share in local abundance.

Winter weather behind, the work continues inside-out on this summer’s garden operations and community programming. With established access to nutrition programs canceled or under fire due to cuts in federal funding, its mission to grow local food and connections is more urgent than ever.

To get the grounds ready and the growing going, there are volunteer work parties every Friday from 10 a.m. until noon.

Volunteers can expect to pitch in, learn and share their knowledge about gardening operations.

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“Currently, we have volunteers coming in to help out in the garden. We’re transplanting seedlings ahead of our seedling sale on May 24,” Crocket said.

On April 25 a crew of about a half-dozen were at work replacing the high tunnel cover. Nearing the end of its life cycle, severe winds the week before had finally blown through and tattered the poly.

Volunteers Jeff Teixiera (left), Elissa Lufkin and Jeff Garbo, all of Norway, prepare the community high tunnel at Alan Day Community Garden to have a new poly covering installed on April 25. The previous cover had been torn apart by high winds during a spring storm the week before. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

Last year volunteers established a Little Free Pantry, which Crockett expects to expand to support other food pantries in the region, such as the Bethel Area Food Pantry.

“We’re focused on people growing extra food for our food pantry,” said Executive Director Rocky Crockett. “We’ve started a food pantry on site. With cuts to federal funding like SNAP, school nutrition, and nutrition programs in general, we’re working to create food access” locally.

“We’re encouraging people who can grow extra food drop it off at the garden during the growing season.”

Crockett and his counterparts are also working to access donation and grant funding to mitigate what has been cut out in recent months.

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May events include community food workshops and meals. As space to participate may be limited registration is required, at https://www.alandaycommunitygarden.org/events. There are no attendance fees, but donations are accepted.

May 9, Norway resident Lyn Bell will prepare a meal honoring Indigenous Foodways of the Americas, with presentations of Wabanaki studies by student youth leaders and family activities.

A plant-based Indian dinner is scheduled for May 16, prepared chef Sunyata Shyam.

Norway artist Keil Borrman will fire up the garden’s pizza oven on June 4, leading a workshop on the art of baking the perfect brick oven pizza.

Alan Day’s annual fundraiser Light the Garden is set for June 14 from 6-9 p.m. A sliding scale entrance fee of $50-20 per person provides a night of local food, live music, social connections and a silent auction.

A spring appeal is underway to maintain programs that benefit groups facing food insecurity.

“The Senior Farm Share is normally a one-time $50 (voucher for local produce), which for the past 10 years we’ve extended to 10 weeks,” Crockett said. “Because of loss of federal funding, we’ve been severely limited to the number of folks we can. We’re fundraising to continue that program as usual.”

Crockett confirmed that all the garden’s individual four x 40-foot garden plots, which people reserve with donations, are spoken for. But there will be other ways to access food grown on site, through surplus distribution through the pantry and at the Norway Farmer’s Market, which will run from July 5-August 31.

The market takes place every Friday between 5-8 p.m. In addition to locally produced food, it features pay-what-you-can woodfired pizza, kids’ activities and occasional live music performances and poetry readings.

The community kitchen was quiet at Alan Day Community Garden last Friday, but the facility is a key part of the organization’s mission to increase local food access through workshops and engagement. Nicole Carter/Advertiser Democrat

Nicole joined Sun Journal’s Western Maine Weeklies group in 2019 as a staff writer for the Franklin Journal and Livermore Falls Advertiser. Later she moved over to the Advertiser Democrat where she covers...

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