The City of Columbus Junction is in the planning phase for a new Burmese community garden. Community Development Center Director Mallory Smith said there are 18 Chin Burmese families living in Columbus Junction, and they’ve been a part of three other community gardens in the city. Now they’re helping to plan a new larger plot. Smith said gardening is important to the Chin Burmese community, as they eat a lot of fresh produce and some of it isn’t easily found in local grocery stores, so they grow it themselves.

The city got involved with the community gardens recently, patterning it off of a Des Moines project for refugees, and acquired a plot of land near Indian Creek Cemetery from Tyson and Summer Allchin. The goal is to encourage as many people as possible to grow produce in the garden for home consumption and to sell at the local farmer’s market. The project has received aid in the form of a grant from the Iowa State Extension Master Gardeners program, as well as a $2,000 mini-grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation. The WCRF grant will go towards the creation of a washing station for the garden.