Garden club is blooming in Keyport

If you've noticed a blooming difference around town, don't adjust your vision, Keyport is definitely awash in color.

Thanks to the Keyport Garden Club, the borough's signs welcoming residents and visitors into town are surrounded with the vibrant hues of all types of flowers planted by members of the club. 

"Our mission is to beautify the town of Keyport," said Dennis McNamara, a club member and Monmouth County master gardener. "Whether you are an artist, a teacher, or whoever, you are welcome to join our efforts to make Keyport more beautiful." 

The club was started in January 2008 by several area master gardeners and garden hobbyists, McNamara said, who got right to work. 

"Last year was a success for our first year," he said. "We planted all the [flower] pots in the downtown area as well as the areas surrounding the 'Welcome to Keyport' signs. We also planted flowers at the Keyport Public Library." 
According to McNamara, the club planted more than 1,000 flowering bulbs; the Bay Blossoms, which are currently blooming, can be seen around the town's library. 

"This year, we were funded by the library to plant a 19th-century herbal medicinal garden for educational purposes," he said. "Everything will be planted before June, when it gets too hot, so May is our busiest month." 

Nancy Carew is the current president of the Keyport Garden Club and a 28- year resident of the Bayshore town. 

"I guess I like the challenge because there's success and failures; it's always interesting to me. Some people give up, but I can't," Carew said. 

The Keyport Garden Club is still germinating, Carew said, only in its second year. 


"We have four master gardeners and we were not familiar with one another," she said. "I guess the master gardeners program and Keyport Garden Club kind of brought us together." 

Carew became a master gardener in 2008, along with McNamara. 

"We actually live down the street from one another and never knew each other. If anything, it was fate that we would be doing a community garden together," she quipped. 

Local gardeners will be plenty busy this May with the addition of a community garden. 

"The idea for a community garden sprang up over a bottle of wine when we were celebrating the success of the club for 2008," McNamara said. "As part of my master gardener program, I helped grow vegetables in the county garden in Freehold, which were donated to a food bank, and we all just felt that we could do it here in Keyport." 

Carew also referenced the master gardener garden that grows produce for local food banks. 

"The community garden idea in Keyport came from the 'PAR: Plant a Row for the Hungry' project, which is behind the Ag [agriculture] building in Freehold Township where the master gardener office is located," Carew said. "Every graduating class is assigned a garden to take care of and it is dedicated to the Open Door Food Pantry in Freehold." 

In addition to the official community garden, the Keyport Garden Club has been cultivating, a smaller PAR garden has been planted in conjunction with the Calvary United Methodist Church on Osborn Street, Carew said. 

"We planted that one in the spring and it is small, but it serves a similar purpose," she said. "It, too, is a PAR garden and will help supply fresh produce to a local food pantry." 

McNamara and Carew said that the Keyport Garden Club will be donating this year's bounty to the Keyport Ministerium Food Bank on East Front Street. 

"The community garden is on private property, but the town has provided water for irrigation to the 57-foot-by-42 foot space," McNamara explained. "We have 12 people involved, and there are nine plots divided and marked for various [types of] gardening. Local wood craftsmen donated structures for climbing vegetables, and there is even a small space for children's gardening." 

The garden club had donated some of the homegrown produce last year and is hoping to double the gifts this year. 

"We began donating some of our vegetables to the St. Mary's Food Pantry, which is also a part of the Keyport Ministerium," Carew explained. "This year we found property to use for our second one. The original garden was on a very small piece of property without water access, which means we had to bucket it in, but we did dedicate about 300 pounds in food to the area food bank." 

The rewards are twofold for those who wish to reap the benefits that the community garden has to offer, Carew said. 

"I think it brings in a lot of community spirit," Carew said of the garden. "People like to get involved because they can open their heart, instead of their wallets during these times and gardening is something that comes naturally to them." 

Planted within the Keyport Garden Club's community garden are broccoli, brussels sprout, different types of lettuce, carrots, leeks and several different types of greens. 

"We prepared the garden in March because we had to amend the soil with compost," Carew explained. "It was rototilled and the garden bed set up. Each member took some driveway edging blocks to line the garden and it is a decorative garden; we are using vegetables instead of flowers, kind of like a miniature farm." 

McNamara said the line at the Keyport Ministerium seems to be growing as more local residents feel the effects of the nation's economic woes. 

"The line there seems like it is getting longer — with the economy these days, so we decided to take this idea to the next step with our own community garden," he said. "One of our members stepped up with some space for it, and so we were off and running." 

Carew said the club expects to harvest the garden's first bounty in the near future. 

"We will be harvesting lettuce within six weeks — we have had a fairly slow spring since it has been cold," Carew said. "We will probably have some food for the food bank within six weeks and will add things like peppers and eggplant as the weather warms up." 

While the members of the garden club await the fruits of their labor, many tend their own gardens, which McNamara said are beautiful. 

"The members' gardens that I have seen are absolutely beautiful," he said. "These are not just lawns; they include native species, plants that are found around the bay and small trees and lots of flowers. It is just incredible how well some of our members can grow plants." 

The club also has other projects that keep members as busy as bees. 

The Keyport Garden Club is working with volunteer organizations such as the Keyport Fire Department and the Keyport First Aid, Carew said. 

"We donated plantings at the post office and planted leftovers or donations in planters in front of their building," Carew said. "We are also responsible for the pots in the downtown for the Keyport Business Alliance." 

Students at the Keyport Central School also have an opportunity to showcase their talents for growing in the form of a pizza garden, Carew said. 

"We have a pizza garden at the Central School," she said. "It is a garden in the shape of a pizza and includes typical pizza ingredients like tomato, basil and onion." 

The garden club will also aid high school students who have an interest in nursery plants. 

"Eventually, we will help the high school students grow trees in their courtyard," Carew said. "They will be planting trees in containers since the courtyard is blacktop." 

The Keyport Garden Club also maintains a reflection garden at the Senior Center on Second Street. 

"Originally, there were foundation plantings on the site [planted] by master gardeners from years back," Carew said. "One night I was at a meeting and heard the senior center needed some gardening, so the master gardeners in town decided to put in a floral garden near the brick patio area for seniors to enjoy. The garden has now become a reflection garden because there are dedication bricks in the garden [in memory of] people who have passed on." 

Carew said her love of gardening was spurred by a need to reduce household expenses. 

"My husband and I got married very young, and to help defray costs of everyday expenses, I started gardening," she said. 

The current president of the Keyport Garden Club calls the latest rise in gardening "a positive trend." 

"It is a good thing, and now everybody's going to have a garden because the White House has one, but it's a wonderful thing," Carew said. "It is good for the environment and it is good for people to do." 

McNamara said that gardening seemed like a natural hobby for him. 

"I have lived in Keyport since 1986 and I love eating fresh vegetables," he said. "So it will be nice for people who frequent the Keyport food bank to have fresh produce in June, July, August and September." 

Carew said the community garden is open to volunteers who are not members of the garden club. 

"We do have some nonmembers who are helping out, but it is really based on whoever has stepped up to help," she said. "We never turn anyone down who wants to help and we encourage membership because it does help defray costs." 

According to Carew, yearly membership dues for the Keyport Garden Club are $35 for a family and $25 for an individual; currently the club has about 20 dedicated members. 

"Membership dues help defray costs, but we get a lot of donated materials," Carew said. "The Home Depot in Hazlet has been generous and has given us supplies for our projects." 

The Keyport Garden Club will hold a plant sale May 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the town's mini-park across from Keyport Borough Hall. The sale will feature plants and flowers donated by club members and items donated by a local nursery.