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Date: 7/30/2015
EAST LONGMEADOW– Residents of Bluebird Estates at 1 Apple Blossom Lane may be surprised to find a bountiful elevated and handicap accessible garden full of pickable vegetables located near the left of the Bluebird’s main building.
This project is due in no small part to the work of Daniel Tenggren, a 16-year-old Eagle Scout candidate in the Boy Scouts of America’s Troop 275, who has raised more than $2,000 for the garden that began fundraising in mid-April.
Tenggren told Reminder Publications the garden area is 40 by 30 square feet and consists of nine garden boxes that are eight by four square feet large. Vegetables at the garden include cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, as well as herbs.
Kristina Tenggren, Daniel’s mother, said he met with the Garden Group at Bluebird Estates, which requested that residents be able to pick and eat vegetables from the garden without cooking them first.
“A lot of them don’t have kitchens because the food is provided for them at Bluebird Estates,” she added.
Daniel said the idea for the project came from an assistant manager at Bluebird Estates who visited Troop 275 looking for help creating an elevated garden.
“[Eagle Scout] projects just don’t happen like this – they don’t just fall into your lap like this,” Kristina said.
Daniel, who has been involved with scouting since he was five years old, said an elevated garden is important because it gives all seniors the accessibility to pick their own fresh produce.
“It gives them fresh vegetables and herbs for the cooks that cook for all the elderly,” he added. “They also can go outside and get fresh air.”
Kristina said the elevated garden boxes are accessible to a variety of heights for individuals in wheelchairs.
Daniel said also helped construct a sidewalk near the gardens with the help of a father of one of his troop member who made sure the 75-foot long, five-inch deep hard packed gravel sidewalk was complaint with the American with Disabilities Act.
The total project took at least 450 hours to complete and between 40 and 50 people donated their time to finish the elevated garden, he added.