Community Garden and honeybees thrive together at Eastwood Preserve

by Chloe Leng

The Richfield Community Garden has been flourishing since 2008 when it was created in the Eastwood Preserve by the village, at the request of the park board and then-recreation director Ruth Jocek. Located at 4712 W. Streetsboro Rd., the garden has become a community in and of itself, with gardeners from across the area renting plots to grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers of all kinds. Over the years, the garden has expanded to include more plots, and the plots are all rented each year.

The village provides humus, mulch and water for the gardens and cuts the perimeter grass, but the gardeners do their own tilling, using an old village tractor.

Master Gardener Volunteer Christina Merk, has been gardening for 15 years and rents two plots in the community garden. As an MGV, Merk volunteers her time and can give educational programs related to gardening. She and her husband donated two pawpaw trees, Ohio’s native fruit tree, to the garden.

While some gardeners, like Merk and longtime gardener, Teri Moran, have been residents of Richfield for a while, others are newer. Zach Goldstein, son of a master gardener, and his family moved to Richfield just two years ago. Since then, Goldstein has had a garden, growing vegetables like cucumbers.

Some gardeners have received recognition for the plants they grow in the garden. Pat Sadataki, who frequently wins awards for her dahlias, was featured in the Richfield Times in 2021.

The garden isn’t limited to the gardeners and their plants, however. It is also home to an apiary of bees.

Robert Najjar, longtime gardener and president of the Summit County Beekeepers Association, explained that after beehives were introduced to the garden a few years ago, the gardens have thrived, due to the crucial pollination. Najjar learned about bees and their important role in supporting ecosystems at an earlier fall festival held on the property. After that, he attended the University of Florida for three years to become a master beekeeper. He now has seven beehives on the perimeter of the garden and frequently holds classes there for the beekeepers association.

Najjar is a passionate advocate for bees, and aims to educate others about their docile nature and their importance in plant reproduction. He also encourages the protection of food sources for bees, such as clover. The flowering plants in the community garden provide bees with a much-needed nectar source during seasons when fewer plants bloom and bees use stored honey as their food source.

Because of their importance, bees have become part of the Richfield Community Garden family. The bees pollinate the plants and the gardeners plant a variety of flowers, like sunflowers, to provide nectar for bees. Some gardeners also provide water fountains for the bees, similar to those birds use. These special fountains feature rocks and wood pieces so that the bees have something to perch on to access the water.

Butterflies have also been an important part of the garden community. In an effort to teach more about monarch butterflies, Ellen Daniels, vice chair of the Richfield Village Parks & Recreation Board and the untitled, passionate caretaker of the garden, runs the Magical Butterfly Camp one Saturday a year so community members can raise caterpillars and observe their transformations. This year will be Daniels’ fourteenth year hosting the camp.

Daniels hopes to add an ADA area to the garden for residents with disabilities to ensure that gardening can be an accessible hobby for all community members to enjoy.

In the garden, the bees, butterflies, plants, and gardeners live in harmony. And the gardeners have become a close-knit community, sharing tips, seeds, laughs and memories. When visiting the garden, one can see gardeners leaning on fences to talk with each other and catch up on the latest life updates. The gardeners happily shared with this reporter a freshly picked zucchini and a taste of honey, straight from a beehive. ∞

The seven beehives of Robert Najjar thrive with a co-dependency
on the nearby community garden. Photos by C. Leng.

Zach Goldstein, sometimes accompanied
by his daughter, Eloise, grows vegetables
in his garden plot.

Some gardeners have created a bee
fountain to provide water for the pollinators.

Ellen Daniels (left) and Teri Moran donate
a lot of time at the garden, helping keep it
a delightful place for all.

Photo (main/above): Master gardener Christina Merk stands near one of the two pawpaw trees that she and her husband donated to the garden.