Help prepare raised beds at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Somers Mansion
SOMERS POINT — The Green Thumb Garden Club works hard to beautify the city but could use a helping hand for its next project.
The club has its sights set on Somers Mansion, where it received delivery of 5 yards of fresh composted garden soil it needs to distribute to 10 raised beds.
“We need your help,” group President Heidi Hibbs stated in an email to local groups and individuals, noting it is the first step in its multiple projects planned for 2022. “We aren’t asking for money, just your time and a little muscle.”
The group is asking for help at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 30.
“Please bring your gloves, shovels, rakes and a wheelbarrow if possible and help us distribute the fresh compost to the 10 raised beds behind the mansion,” Hibbs stated.
A rain date is scheduled for the same time March 31.
“Many hands make light work,” Hibbs stated. “Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts are always welcome.”
Group Vice President Pam DeMarco said the club will be planting vegetables and herbs in its Colonial Kitchen Garden and sharing its harvest with the Ecumenical Food Pantry at Grace Lutheran Church.
Other club events include its Point of Pride Down to Earth Garden Tour on June 25 to celebrate its 70th year, container planting at the Route 52 four corners, library entrances and the Gateway Playhouse, as well as a butterfly garden at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park.
DeMarco said they reached out to community groups and are hoping for a good turnout.
The garden is just one of multiple projects planned for the property, where the nonprofit group Patriots for Somers Mansion has been working to rehabilitate the historic home of the city’s founder.
Plans include holding a weekly farmers market this summer as well as occasional fundraisers at the site, which has overlooked Great Egg Harbor Bay for more than 300 years.
The New Jersey State Park Service owns the homestead, which is on the National Register of Historic Sites. The group is working to restore the property to its original appearance, with a major goal of replacing the captains walk around the second story so visitors can take in the same view Richard Somers had in the 1720s.
Patriots President Donna Mohr said she is helping prepare a request for proposals for a management company to operate the farmers market. The contract will be funded through state grants.
“That is a very exciting proposition,” Mohr said. “We want to make money to fix the mansion and renting out the property is the best thing we can do.”
She noted that 500 people visited the site during the Christmas market last year, bringing a lot of attention to the historic home and the club’s endeavors to fix it up.
“It was so amazing during the Christmas mart how many people said they never knew it was here,” Mohr said.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff