June 2025 at the Salem Community Gardens!

June brought us extreme heat but that didn’t stop Salem Community Gardens from officially ushering in Summer with plenty of happenings! From pollinators basking in the budding plants to little gnomes learning about gardening, and wildlife making their presence known— here’s just a few of the latest happening at our four community gardens in Salem, Mass.

Pollinator Week

We celebrated Pollinator Week June 16th-22nd. Each year, National Pollinator Week is a reminder of how vital bees, butterflies, and other pollinators are to the success of our garden. Without them, many of our favorite fruits, vegetables, and flowers would not thrive. Each of our community gardens has designated space for pollinator-friendly plants to attract these helpful visitors. When you have a moment, stop and observe our awesome pollinators at work! And an extra special thank you to the volunteers who dedicate their time to upkeeping our pollinator gardens! To learn more about pollinator week, visit pollinator.org

Little Garden Gnome Storytime

The Salem Public Library held a Little Garden Gnome Storytime program at their Splaine plot engaging budding gardeners. 

Jennifer from SPL wrote to us to share, “I had bigger and bigger groups of curious gardeners each week with a group of over 30 participants for our last week. The children were ages 18mo to 5 and we explored gardening through all of our senses. We sang songs, shared stories, touched/smelled/tasted vegetables, planted seeds, explored garden basics and where our produce comes from, and finished off with a very enthusiastic parachute time!”

The program was so well received that we will be back for a Harvest Garden Gnomes program in the late summer/early fall to pick and taste some of the veggies that we planted.

Please visit the Salem Public Library’s website or follow them on Instagram to find out how you can enroll your little ones in their next garden adventure!

Wildlife in the Gardens

From baby birds hatching in a plot at Pickman Park, to a family of turkeys at Mack Park - Our gardens are full of wildlife! Even though some of our wildlife friends can be quite a nuisance... they can still be quite cute!

New President for Salem Community Gardens

Our very own Scott Skalny from Mack Park has stepped into our long-vacant board president position! The president of the board has responsibilities like running board meetings, ensuring board and garden operations run smoothly, and coordinating with the City of Salem and other organizations. Scott has been a valued member of the board as a captain of Mack Park for the last 3 years and is excited about this new opportunity.

He says, “Nature and gardening have always been a big part of my life—sometimes shared with others, but often practiced alone. But over the last couple of years serving on the Board, I've come to see that gardening here is about more than planting, watering, and harvesting. It's about the people, too.

This is a community as much as it is a garden. We have a meaningful opportunity to support one another and help shape the future of urban agriculture across Salem and neighboring towns. Whether you're improving native pollinator plots to strengthen local ecosystems, tending donation beds, volunteering on workdays, or stepping into a leadership role, every contribution makes a difference.

As I step into this role, I'll make sure to share updates and plans as they develop. In the meantime, if you have questions or concerns, please reach out to your Garden Captain—we'll make sure they're heard and addressed.

Thanks for being part of this. I'm looking forward to a productive season—together.

The Salem Community Gardens Cookbook

We’re putting together a community garden cookbook and we want to feature your favorite garden-inspired recipes! Whether it’s a go-to zucchini dish, a fresh salad, or anything made with homegrown veggies—if it uses produce you can grow in our gardens, we’d love to include it.

📬 Submit your recipe here: Recipe Submission Form

Why you should submit your recipe:

• You’ll be helping grow our garden community in a fun new way

• You could have your name and recipe in a published cookbook

• If your recipe is chosen, you’ll get a free digital copy of the finished cookbook

• All profits from the sale of the cookbook will go directly back into our gardens
  

The submission form is open now and closes November 1st, 2025, so feel free to start submitting your recipes!

We are looking forward to seeing what’s been cooking in your kitchens!

Interested in giving back? Here are a few ways to get involved:

• Volunteer for donation plots or garden workdays (we're exploring a shared calendar to make this easier—stay tuned)

• Consider joining the Board salemcommunitygardens.org/board

• Support local hunger relief through The Salem Pantry”

If you are interested in learning more about or joining our board of directors, please view our roles and responsibilities document or email hello@salemcommunitygardens.org.

Video: Should You Join Our Board? 

Our open board positions are:

• Mack park co-captain(s) 

• Palmer Cove Co-captain(s)

• Registrar

To view our current board members, visit salemcommunitygardens.org/board