The Garden Greenway lies in the heart of Mt. Shasta, just across Alma Street from the Rotary Trail access to Sisson Meadow. These two open spaces are centers for public access, outdoor education and the community’s enjoyment of nature. The Garden Greenway holds a commitment to growing food together as a reflection of past uses of the this property and Sisson Meadow.

Since the purchase of the property in 2014, much has been done to move forward in creating the community envisioned space. Starting in 2014, the land has been cleaned up, trails have been widened and regularly chipped and the Garden Share has transitioned into a fenced garden for community learning.

Partners on the Garden Greenway include Mt. Shasta Rotary, Mt. Shasta Trail Association, Shasta Regional Community Foundation, Pacific Power Foundation, The McConnell Fund of Shasta Regional Community Foundation, Rotary District 5160, City of Mt. Shasta, Spring Hill Nursery, Native Grounds Nursery, Healthy Gardens, Gaia Landscaping, Sousa Ready Mix, A Cut Above Tree Service, Chris Schneider Design and Boys & Girls Club of the Siskiyous. Volunteers from Siskiyou Land Trust, Mt. Shasta Trail Association and Mt. Shasta Rotary have contributed over a thousand hours of labor to this vision.

We’ve seen a lot of progress over the years. Thanks to the amazing Mt. Shasta Trail Association crew, Mt. Shasta Rotary and SLT volunteers, the garden fence was build in 2017 with finishing touches put on in 2018. Thank you to The McConnell Fund of Shasta Regional Community Foundation for providing funding and to local businesses, contractors and consultants for their in-kind donations of skills, expertise, equipment and materials.

The Boys & Girls Club of the Siskiyous have been making educational field trips to the garden since 2018, learning about gardening and sharing the delicious food harvested. Club members have planted garlic and strawberries, spread flower seeds and learned about the perennial plants in the garden. The kids dug in the dirt, spread manure, and continue water plants. As part of their garden activities, members of the club built boxes for the strawberry plants. Even through the isolation of COVID, volunteers kept the garden flourishinjg and delivered harvested produce to the Mt. Shasta Resource Center for distribution to the community.

The initial plans for the land were outlined in the Garden Greenway Learning Landscape presentation from 2017. Here are just a few of the acheivements since then and our future goals:

  • Install garden gates DONE
  • Install irrigation systems in garden DONE
  • Place picnic tables DONE
  • Move garden shed inside the garden fence DONE
  • Improve wet area of Edible Alley DONE
  • Clear sight lines by thinning vegetation DONE
  • Fund construction of ADA restrooms and additional office space STILL A GOAL
  • Install raised beds and work benches in garden RAISED BEDS DONE
  • Landscape along fence and around parking lot DONE WITH THE MEDICINAL HERB GARDEN
  • Complete building addition, construct ADA walkway STILL A GOAL
  • Install Garden Greenway interpretive sign STILL A GOAL
  • Begin design on Outdoor Community Gathering Space STILL A GOAL
  • Edible Alley and Community Orchard ALWAYS IN PROGRESS

The Garden Greenway includes shared food sources, including Edible Alleys and a Community Orchard that the community can tend and harvest. The first Edible Alley was created by literally mowing a path through the blackberry vines. That path is a terrific place to pick blackberries and a trail that community members use daily when crossing from the library or downtown to nearby neighborhoods.

Fruit trees have been planted both inside and outside of the garden fence and there are old fruit trees on the property, including apple, cherry and plum trees. Those old trees have been limbed up in recent years and can be a terrific source of fruit.

History:

In January 2014, the Land Trust purchased this 2.89-acre parcel on East Alma Street after a tremendous community fundraising campaign that raised $150,000 in just under six months. The Garden Greenway campaign included extensive community input about the property’s future uses. School children made drawings of what they envisioned, partners walked the property to discuss opportunities for shared goals and community members shared their hopes and desires for the space.

Since then a concept plan has been developed that includes the full vision: build out of physical spaces on the landscapes, goals for partnerships and long-term programs. You can view that concept plan here.

Conservation Values: The land is already and will be further developed as a local farmstead (community and school gardens located in place of historic truck farm). In addition, the land provides wetlands protection, wildlife habitat, scenic views, public access to alternative transportation corridor and trails, an outdoor classroom meeting space, and neighborhood green-space.