The Eudora Giving Garden’s new curiosity garden will give all ages a place to learn about unique plants as the garden continues to expand offerings in hopes of inspiring all parts of the community.
The garden will continue growing flowers and giving them to senior organizations in town. It will also still supply food to the pantry and work with the school district and Feeding Eudora. However, a new garden will add another layer of learning, said Diane Guthrie, president of the board.
Visitors will be able to touch and smell their way through the new garden and be introduced to seeds, grains and herbs.
The goal is for the new garden to give people a better understanding of where food comes from with education signage. Things like sensitive plants, purple tomatoes, mouse melon, toothache plants, cotton plants, a gourd tunnel and birdhouse gourds will be planted in the curiosity garden. 
Learning is the priority for the garden as it continues to expand.
The cutting garden and native plant garden will also be open for residents to work on during the upcoming planning days.
The garden will give anyone an opportunity to learn about planting and participate in the process, and no experience is needed. They are asking for volunteers with all skill levels.
The following dates will be additional planting and work days for the garden:
Tuesday, April 22
Saturday, April 26
Saturday, May 3
Saturday, May 24
During the May 3 planting day, there will also be a dedication for the garden’s mural that was completed last year.
The Giving Garden is also looking for organizations to work on the projects as well. Guthrie said they recently connected with a representative at Panasonic about wanting to get involved.
Dana Chance, who teaches JAG-K at the high school and is on the garden’s board, said her students get to see every stage of the garden from helping to plant to picking flowers to give to teachers, while getting to support the community through volunteer opportunities.
“I’ve tried to find community service opportunities in Eudora, with the goal of students feeling connected to their community, and the Giving Garden has been a perfect place for that. I think the students – we’ve developed relationships with the other people on the board, and it really does feel like a community effort,” Chance said.
The garden does not charge for anything and is strictly run on donations, she said.
“I like the philosophy of the garden. It’s truly about giving back to the community,” she said.
It feels like the garden has centered itself on its objectives recently, especially with focusing on learning opportunities, she said.
“We are a welcoming group, and we understand that not everyone can come out, maybe and donate their time every week, but we are happy to see anyone at any time, even if it’s just for a half hour. We really want it to feel like it’s an open environment without a lot of rules,” she said.
They need to continue to gain volunteers to further their goals and continue growing flowers and catering to kids and community members who love nature, Guthrie said. 
Barb Jennings helps run the garden’s website and also helps manage the gardens. Jennings said the garden has been able to start expanding its offerings with talks from master gardeners and other workshops, like a class on arranging floral bouquets with floral foam.
What makes the Giving Garden special is the ability for anyone in the community to go anytime they want. There’s always a list of things that volunteers can help with, she said.
The new curiosity garden will have informational signage about each of the plants, and recipes that could be made with the items, she said.
The Giving Garden also has the opportunity to teach future gardeners about how to operate a garden and ideas of what to grow, all for free, she said.
“It’s here to support the community of Eudora in whatever way that we can,” Jennings said.
For people who want to get involved, they can fill out an interest form here, or message the Giving Garden’s Facebook page. Their newsletter is available here.
Other events throughout the coming season will be at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday nights:
June 12 – Master gardener Sandra Siebert Talk: Shady Veggies
June 26 – Indigo Magic returns
July 10 – Handheld bouquet workshop
July 24 – Sip and Pick
Aug. 14 – Master naturalist Jeff Fouquet Talk: Mammals of Kansas
Aug. 28 – Sip and Pick
Sept. 11 – Jungle House workshop
Sept. 25 – Fall harvest party
