Community garden for anyone who needs it

If Groton resident Cattie Whaley had to pinpoint just one major thing the COVID-19 pandemic impressed upon her this past year, it would be how it acutely raised her awareness of how many people in Groton don’t have access to food.  

Whaley has lived in her home at 404 Spring St. for 20 years, but due to the nature of her work, she is so busy by day and so tired when she comes home at night that she only got to know her neighbors this past year.  

“I have always been so committed to my work that I never had time to meet people and, honestly, never really had a desire to,” Whaley said. “But because the pandemic slowed everyone down, including me, I realized what a food desert Groton is for people as I finally started getting to know them. We don’t have a grocery store here, and that’s a problem for many.” 

If your interest is now piqued as to what sort of work has kept Whaley so busy, it has a direct correlation to what she now plans to do right on her front lawn to “do her part” to help her neighbors who need access to fresh produce.  

Whaley is a professional horticulturist, and she plans to turn a large portion of her land into a community garden, but not in the traditional sense, wherein people rent a portion of land to grow their own garden. 

Instead, Whaley will be doing the planting and growing and invites those in the community who are in need of the fruits and vegetables she raises to help themselves to whatever is there to harvest. 

Raised in Deer River, New York, Whaley graduated from Carthage High School in 1995 and went on to Cornell University to pursue an animal science degree, which she worked toward for the next three years.  

Whaley’s parents, Alan and Valda Arndt, always had huge vegetable gardens when she was growing up, and Valda canned or froze enough that Whaley can’t remember them ever purchasing them from a store.  

Because Alan had always tried growing fruit unsuccessfully, Whaley took a berry production class at Cornell one semester to try to help her dad out in that area, which she truly enjoyed.  

Though Whaley had told her parents when she was 8 years old that she was going to be a veterinarian when she grew up, taking that berry class had a tremendous impact on her.  

“I just wasn’t competitive enough to go the whole way in the pre-vet program,” Whaley said. “When biochemistry was looming ahead, that was the turning point for my life.”

Whaley turned her studies to horticulture identification and plant propagation and physiology classes from that point on, earning her bachelor’s in horticulture in 2000.  

Immediately after college, Whaley started working at Cayuga Landscape in Ithaca as the assistant manager of the garden center, with perennials as her specialty.  

In fall 2005, Whaley decided to “strike out on her own” and start her own landscaping and consultation business, Enchanted Gardens. She credits Kip Kersat of Kersat Landscaping in Lansing with being very helpful in getting her set up and started on a path to success.  

“Word of mouth has been the key for me,” Whaley said. “I do general maintenance for my clients and consultations to help people either do their own landscaping or I help them do it.” 

Until just recently, Whaley had built her client base to 15, and though she said she “keeps it to small jobs involving veggies and flowers,” that is what has kept her so exceptionally busy for the past 20 years.  

Whaley knew she had to slow down, so she now limits herself to eight regular clients, which still keeps her very busy, but it’s more manageable. She did the design for the landscaping for the Groton Public Library and has consulted for the Friends of the Groton Public Library about how to prune the shrubs there. 

Whaley did find time to meet and marry her husband, Jason, in 2013. Jason had been working with an educational consulting company, but his boss recently retired, so he now plans to help Cattie with the community garden. 

“He’s going to help me play in the dirt now,” Cattie said. “So, we hope it keeps us young.” 

Cattie will plant and cultivate the community garden as soon as the weather makes that feasible. She will also welcome help in maintaining it from the community, certainly under her guidance, and she especially invites children in the neighborhood to come and learn from her.  

“I’m hoping to interest the neighbor kids in learning where food comes from, how to grow it and tell when it’s ready for harvest,” Cattie said. “I want them to know it doesn’t just come from the grocery store.”  

Cattie also plans to grow flowers for people to come and pick a bouquet if they’d like to, especially for children to take to their moms.  

“If you need food, please come and take it,” Cattie said. “And if anyone has any questions for me, reach out via Facebook or just stop by if you see me outside.” 

Keep an eye on the Facebook Group “Growing Groton” to find posts from Cattie when produce is ready to be picked. 

Groton on the Inside appears weekly. Submit news ideas to Linda Competillo, lmc10@cornell.edu or 607-227-4922.  

In brief: 

‘Anastasia’ the musical 

The livestreaming of the Groton High School musical production of “Anastasia” will take place at 5 p.m. May 20 and May 21. To purchase tickets, go to ShowTix4U.com and search “Groton Central School” or use this link: https://www.showtix4u.com/events/21873. Livestream tickets are $15 per device. 

Youth Summer Camp 

Groton Youth Services summer camp will return in 2021 for a summer full of friends, fun and, hopefully, sun after not being able to run in 2020 due to the pandemic. This year’s camp will be operating slightly differently than in prior years and will be as COVID-safe as possible while still allowing for plenty of fun to be had and memories to be made. 

Camp will take place at Groton Elementary School, 516 Elm St., and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily Monday through Friday, beginning July 6 (no camp on July 5, which is the Fourth of July federal holiday) through Aug. 13. 

Cost per student is $150 weekly or $900 for the full summer with a $10 registration fee per family. Payment is due a minimum of seven days prior to your youth attending the subsequent week of camp.  

A limited number of scholarships are available. If you are interested in applying for a scholarship or have general camp questions, please contact Nick Wagner at nw346@cornell.edu. Scholarship applications must be submitted by June 1. 

Register for camp at https://t.ly/eTKW. Payments by check should be made out to CCETC and mailed to: Attn: Groton RYS Summer Camp, CCE Tompkins, 615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850.

Groton Youth Services operates in partnership with Rural Youth Services of Cornell Cooperative Extension, which is funded by the United Way, the Tompkins County Youth Services Department and the town and village of Groton.