BDN interviews Garland about staying safe in community gardens

The Bangor Daily News interviewed Kate Garland, a horticulture professional with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, about how people can protect themselves against the coronavirus while gardening in a community garden. Garland said community gardeners should bring their own tools when possible, not bring their children to the gardens, minimize their trips, avoid gardening during the weekends and evenings, stay six feet away from others when using a communal spigot and sanitize its surface afterward. “I use a clean pair of gloves before I go water and turn on the spigot,” she said. “Minimize the number of times you need to touch that surface [by watering] at the end or beginning of your time [in the garden].” The article also shared Extension’s community gardening guidelines for the pandemic. The Aiken Standard published the BDN article.