Comstock community garden offers beauty and peace

COMSTOCK, Neb. (KOLN) - During a visit to the Custer County village of Comstock, you are encouraged to take time out for a tour of the community garden that encompasses an entire city block.

We visited with Pam Chambers who manages the garden, to learn a little more about it. “In 1993, there was a fire in town and it destroyed this entire block on main street,” Chambers said. “Five major buildings were destroyed. It lay in rubble for years, and then three ladies got together, and had the area bulldozed. That’s when they started the garden. Today, we try to maintain it as best we can, and we try to keep it organic for our pollinator project.”

The name of the garden is Comstock Community Garden but Chambers says the ladies who started it also called it “CARE” or “Comstock Ain’t Ready to Expire”. “They were trying real hard, and they did it,” Chambers said. “It’s a beautiful, two-acre park-like setting right in the middle of town. There is color in the garden all year long, even in the fall.”

The garden works to support the pollinators. “I’ve been managing the garden since 2015,” Chambers said. “This garden is a showcase of a pollinator project, as the whole garden is considered a butterfly garden. We promote edible landscaping here in the garden as well. Many people and even municipalities spend money trying to keep grass growing, when they could be growing things people can eat. We have fruit trees, berries, and an herb garden, and we share it with everyone. I give free guided tours if you call my number, and I also give free seeds. We have 12 different native perennial plants that grow in this garden, so I hand out the seeds so everyone can have a pollinator garden.”

So the next time you are in Comstock, be sure to check out the Comstock Community Garden. You’ll also want to visit some of the other tourism attractions in and around town, including the Dowse Sod House. Not far from there is a unique rural art galley found inside a former Swedish Covenant church. You’ll want to see that, and be sure to get a glimpse of the Middle Loup River when you drive into Comstock. And, don’t forget the Christmas lights and inflatables on main street during the Christmas season.

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