I've moved around a lot, but I never consider a place “home“ until I've found a local spot where I feel at peace – usually some local peak or riverside – a place to daydream and still an anxious mind.

I'm new to Durango, and I found that spot among the sunflowers at golden hour, pulling weeds in a little plot at the Ohana Kuleana Community Garden. I found this garden somewhat by accident, and I couldn't have imagined how much it would come to mean to me in such a short time. The idea of a community garden plot was romantic to a millennial like me, and I bought a plot, knowing nothing about growing much of anything, let alone at elevation.

This summer I grew my first vegetables from seed. But that’s just the start. I found a community of folks who were happy to chat, generous with advice and seedlings. Conversations turned to friendships, and in just a few months, I felt a sense of belonging in a place where I was so new. Over the season, I watched as bare plots were clothed in fragile seedlings, then exploded with kale, squash, corn and sunflowers. I brought a friend to the garden, and he described it as “magic.” He's right.

We have an incredible resource in this garden, but its future is uncertain. Come experience the magic, too, and how we might save it, at our open house Saturday, Aug. 21, 9 a.m. to noon.

Emily Roller

Durango