By Shelly Strom
Community GroundWorks

Community GroundWorks (CGW) is always motivated to go green. At Troy Gardens, the home of CGW, our 26-acre open space integrates a number of land-based elements: 330 community garden plots, a 4-acre tallgrass prairie, an organic CSA farm, an extensive food forest and an award-winning Kids Garden. The land at Troy is a place for neighbors, visitors and wildlife to cross paths. The community garden supports gardeners who are refugees, veterans and adults with disabilities. More than 1,000 children visit Troy Gardens each year. 

To maintain the land and ensure safe access for all, CGW maintains acres of grassy paths and green space throughout the growing season. Historically, staff and volunteers have used a fleet of gas-powered equipment: push mowers, trimmers and tillers. Such outdated equipment pollutes the environment and jeopardizes the health of our volunteer operators, gardeners and visitors. The gas equipment creates auditory disturbance for birds nesting on the Troy land, potentially reducing their breeding success.

Thanks to a 2015 grant from the Dane County Environmental Council, CGW has begun “greening” our maintenance equipment to reduce air, water and noise pollution, and to model best practices for land management. We have purchased two rechargeable EGO brand push mowers, two rechargeable weed trimmers and a solar recharging system installed on-site where there is no access to electricity. The equipment is amazingly quiet, simple to use and powered by the sun.

CGW staff and volunteers are keen to share our experience with you: neighbors, gardeners, land stewards and residents of Dane County. These investments in green equipment have had direct and immediate benefits to the public and local wildlife (noise reduction, improved air quality), will reduce negative impact on the Yahara River/Lake Mendota watershed, and have already reduced our dependence on fossil fuels. This equipment is expected to last a decade; thus our greening project will continue to improve the land, neighborhood, watershed and community, and inspire thousands to adopt green practices elsewhere.