By John Burton
RED BANK – Borough Council President Cindy Burnham offered a little tidbit to a handful of women at the Red Bank Senior Center as they completed their plantings in the newly established garden: “Nothing’s better than coming back to your garden and picking a cherry tomato and popping it in your mouth.”
The women, whose ages range from the mid-60s to late 80s, nodded in agreement, recalling the joy of gardening.
“The best part is touching the earth,” putting your bare hands in the soil for the vegetables and herbs to grow, offered Enilza Andrade, an 83- year-old resident of Wesleyan Arms senior apartments here in the borough.
Burnham, in addition to serving as council president for the year, is the council liaison to the senior center, 80 Shrewsbury Ave. She personally purchased four elevated planting beds and the needed soil to establish a garden in the center’s back yard area, overlooking the Swimming River.
RED BANK – Borough Council President Cindy Burnham offered a little tidbit to a handful of women at the Red Bank Senior Center as they completed their plantings in the newly established garden: “Nothing’s better than coming back to your garden and picking a cherry tomato and popping it in your mouth.”
The women, whose ages range from the mid-60s to late 80s, nodded in agreement, recalling the joy of gardening.
“The best part is touching the earth,” putting your bare hands in the soil for the vegetables and herbs to grow, offered Enilza Andrade, an 83- year-old resident of Wesleyan Arms senior apartments here in the borough.
Burnham, in addition to serving as council president for the year, is the council liaison to the senior center, 80 Shrewsbury Ave. She personally purchased four elevated planting beds and the needed soil to establish a garden in the center’s back yard area, overlooking the Swimming River.
With the helpful assistance of employees of the borough Department of Public Utilities, Burnham said, they stacked the four beds, costing about $200, on top of one another, placing the approximately $300 worth of soil in the beds, and then including mushroom compost in the mix. Having the beds elevated makes it easier for the seniors to participate in planting, said both Burnham and Jackie Reynolds, director of the municipality-run senior center and programs.
Among the items planted for the season are cherry tomatoes, Italian peppers, rosemary, garlic, chives, cilantro, basil and nasturtium, an annual flower and leaves that are both decorative and edible.
“This is something I’ve done all my life in my home,” having her own small garden, said Rosalie Jackson, 83, Red Bank.
Among the items planted for the season are cherry tomatoes, Italian peppers, rosemary, garlic, chives, cilantro, basil and nasturtium, an annual flower and leaves that are both decorative and edible.
“This is something I’ve done all my life in my home,” having her own small garden, said Rosalie Jackson, 83, Red Bank.
And for 85-year-old Betty Albert, who lives in Fair Haven, it brought back some fond memories. “My grandparents were farmers,” and she recalled visiting them and doing some work on their farm.
For Jackson, the best part of the effort is “seeing everything grow.”
It is late in the planting season, Burnham acknowledged, “but better late than never.”
Next year, she hoped the group would consider some autumn items to plant.
This is something she’s wanted to do since before she ran for borough council, “just for the love of it,” said Burnham, who is running for re-election in the November election as an independent candidate.
Prior to her tenure on the governing body, Burnham had advocated for and help establish the borough community garden and the Maple Cove open space and public access area to the Navesink River at the northern end of Maple Avenue.
This project “is very senior friendly,” Reynolds pointed out, helping with their socialization, offering an outdoor activity and even providing some cognitive stimulation. And Reynolds suspected others who regularly come to the senior center for its programs and company will look to participate in the gardening.
Approximately 65 seniors are “in and out” of the senior center daily, totalling roughly 400 a week, according to Reynolds.
The center and its activities are available to residents of the borough and surrounding communities as long as they are at least 60-years-old.
For Jackson, the best part of the effort is “seeing everything grow.”
It is late in the planting season, Burnham acknowledged, “but better late than never.”
Next year, she hoped the group would consider some autumn items to plant.
This is something she’s wanted to do since before she ran for borough council, “just for the love of it,” said Burnham, who is running for re-election in the November election as an independent candidate.
Prior to her tenure on the governing body, Burnham had advocated for and help establish the borough community garden and the Maple Cove open space and public access area to the Navesink River at the northern end of Maple Avenue.
This project “is very senior friendly,” Reynolds pointed out, helping with their socialization, offering an outdoor activity and even providing some cognitive stimulation. And Reynolds suspected others who regularly come to the senior center for its programs and company will look to participate in the gardening.
Approximately 65 seniors are “in and out” of the senior center daily, totalling roughly 400 a week, according to Reynolds.
The center and its activities are available to residents of the borough and surrounding communities as long as they are at least 60-years-old.
