Archived Story
Victor School seeks interest in garden
by WILL MOSS - Ravalli Republic
Luci Brieger has just one question for Victor: “Does anybody want to come play in the dirt with us?”

Brieger, a member of the Victor School Board, is assessing her community’s interest in turning a 4-acre parcel owned by the school into a community garden.

“The property is public property ... and we’d like to use it in the best community interest if the community wants to do it that way,” said Brieger, co-owner of Lifeline Produce in Victor.

“One thought is to turn it into a football field with parking and something of a track, but that’s a little ways down the line because it would take a serious fund raising drive. In the meantime, we still own the property so someone might as well use it for something.”

While the tract, which lies four blocks away from the school, isn’t currently fenced and lacks on-site electricity and water, Brieger noted that those issues are on the slate to be addressed no matter what use the property eventually serves.

“Whatever the school decides to do with it - even if they sell it - they’d be wise to make those investments,” she said. “So, it makes sense to let the community use it because it’s nice soil.”

So, Brieger has taken on the task of identifying community interest in the proposed garden to see if it’s worth pursuing.

“If we can reach a basic threshold of ... 10, 15, 20 people that seem interested, we’ll pursue it,” she said.

Eventually, Brieger said, the hope would be to integrate a school garden onto the property which would allow for educational opportunities during the school year and community cooperation between students and residents in the summer.

“We know from talking to other schools and community gardens that, since our school is quite small, there’s no way we can have a successful school garden at that site without a somewhat present community garden as well,” she said, noting that some groups have already shown interest in doing their part to make it successful.

“It’s going to take commitment and a good bit of time. The Victor Garden Club is committed to participating at many levels; helping with the school garden element, having beds that they would just grow for food banks and just being a presence there to help people.”

She also pointed to folks like Jason Mandala, education director for the PEAS Farm in Missoula, as possible resources to help spur the effort on.

“There’s ways that we can do this,” Brieger said.

But, for now, the project is only in a preliminary stage, needing public interest to make it beyond the drawing board, though Brieger knows that if it gets off the ground, the benefits to the community will be numerous.

“I think that reinstating small-scale, local agriculture as a viable career in this valley [is important] - to have it in our minds that farming shouldn’t be something to run away from,” she said.

And, as co-owner of Lifeline Produce, she speaks from experience.

“I’m a long-time organic farmer in the valley and, you know, we thought we were crazy and everybody else thought we were crazy 25-30 years ago when we wanted to be farmers and grow vegetables for the valley to eat local, eat in-season and eat organic and all that hippy-groovy stuff,” she said.

A former county commissioner put it best, Brieger laughed, when he reportedly quipped “Nobody wants to work that hard.”

But, she continued, the hard work that her family has put into agriculture has been rewarding and the addition of a community garden could be a good avenue for the area’s youth to connect with the land and diversify their education.

“It has so many positive repercussions in so many ways; it’s empowering and they learn about nutrition, the natural world, how to work a little .... There are collateral advantages all over the place,” Brieger said.

“When my kids play a part in growing the broccoli, that broccoli tastes awfully good to them.”

Anyone interested in participating in a Victor Community Garden should contact Luci Brieger at 642-3943.

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Reporter Will Moss can be reached at 363-3300 or wmoss@ravallirepublic.com.

Reader's Comments >>

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Foodie wrote on Feb 5, 2010 7:39 AM:

" Kudos to Luci for her forward thinking ideas. Question to those who oppose it. Would you rather eat, or play games ?? Every school in the valley needs a garden to produce wholesome food to be used in their lunch programs, and to provide a training ground to teach students the benefits and awareness of where their food comes from. As to the former commissioners comment about "nobody wants to work that hard", look around you, it is evident by all the obese people that they also have his mindset. Gluttony is not a secret. "

slim wrote on Feb 4, 2010 10:10 AM:

" If a garden is established it will never become a football field. "

Ed wrote on Feb 4, 2010 9:11 AM:

" Victor does need track and field facilitys. What would be a good idea and teaching tool is to get school clubs involved and with Brieger's help and instruction. Grow vegitables on the land and sell them at the farmers market with all proceeds going to a future goal. "