CORTLAND, NY (CortacaToday) – Cortland County officials are touting the success of a recently created community garden and the continuing growth of another.

The DEC Cortland office says the new veggie garden is thriving in its first season, partly due to its proximity to the office’s pollinator garden, planted back in 2022. The veggie garden project, led by Ecosystem Health Biologist and Sustainability Committee member Sarah Clay, kicked off earlier this summer. The garden is now full of beans, sweet corn, squash, tomatoes, and potatoes.

The two sustainable gardens were created using reused and recycled materials, and on-site generated compost. Staff also recently completed an invasive plant species cleanup at the pollinator garden and have spotted numerous critters and insects there, including monarch caterpillars, and red admiral butterflies.

The pollinator garden is dedicated to former mined land reclamation specialist in the Division of Mineral Resources, Mike Spadafore. Spadafore, also a founding member of the Sustainability Committee, passed away in 2021.