Eighth Rake and Bake is hosted

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Under clouds and occasional rain, Freeman Gardens had its eighth annual Rake and Bake clean-up and fundraiser Saturday, April 5.

Notwithstanding the weather, it was a pretty day with mothers and children strolling, peeking buds, pink and green, hinting of spring.

There were also a few new entries on the accounting ledger for sale to catch one’s attention like new emblazoned caps and a rose bush dedication sale. This rose sale was necessary. The garden rose plants were decimated last year by disease and now there is an opportunity to purchase a dedicated plant for a loved one.

The garden had 250 rose plants last year before the infestation by rosette disease. Only two dozen survived and removed to a safe garden bed. According to Kevin Sherry, a Freeman Garden Board member, 50 new rose bushes would be purchased this month.

“They may be planted in the fall,” he said. “Another 50 will be purchased next spring. We’re going to see how it goes. It’s a nice memorial. I have a memorial rose bush roster from 1968.”

The types of roses Sherry promises will be “mixed up.”

The work at the garden was diverse. Some people sold baked goods while others swept the chicken coup, now a converted toolshed. Some of the men were taking flagstones from a pile Sherry had collected over the winter and carefully then end-to-end to create a path. Sherry said, at one time, the Freemans had 300 chickens cooped.

  Freeman’s Garden, Glen Ridge