Community garden has a place to bloom
20 plots to be available at Ford Avenue location
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer

FREEHOLD BOROUGH

FREEHOLD — Residents who do not have room to grow their own vegetables and colorful flowers will have the opportunity to do so in the first community garden sponsored by Freehold Borough.

Municipal officials recently passed a resolution that authorizes a lease agreement for the garden to be executed among the borough, the Neighborhood Pride Committee and Joseph and William Stavola Inc.

Councilman Marc Le Vine said the community garden is expected to be developed on Ford Avenue in the spring of 2009. It is one of the projects being spearheaded by the Neighborhood Pride Committee.

Neighborhood Pride Committee member Donna Koloski was happy to hear that the community project is moving forward.

Koloski, of Bennett Street, brought the idea for a community garden to the committee. She said she was very excited to hear that the council had taken action on the resolution and said, "It's been a long time coming. So many people have put in so much hard work on this."

Koloski, a longtime gardener, said Le Vine, Borough Attorney Kerry Higgins, Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina, and George Conway, who is the corporate secretary of Trap Rock Industries, all helped to make the community garden a reality.

Le Vine said Trap Rock Industries is owned by Stavola Inc.

"My hope is that this project will bring the community closer together," Koloski said. "This community is so diverse and this garden is something that everyone can work on together."

The council's resolution states that the goal of the community garden is to "foster neighborhood pride, provide an opportunity to grow vegetables and flowers for individuals and for charity, teach children the beauty and benefits of gardening, and strengthen community ties."

The borough will use part of a parcel on Ford Avenue for the community garden. According to the resolution, the members of the Neighborhood Pride Committee will take on the job of managing and maintaining the garden and the site.

Le Vine said a total of 20 plots (each 10 by 10 feet) will be offered to the first 20 residents who apply. A seasonal rental fee of $20 will be charged. The plots will be arranged in two lines separated by a walkway and running parallel to and behind the Rug Mill Plaza retail center, which fronts on Jackson Street. Gardeners will be able to enhance their plot with a small fence as long as the fence is portable and temporary.

According to the resolution, fertilizers and pesticides will be allowed on the plots closest to the Rug Mill Plaza, while the plots closest to First Street are to remain organic.

Gardeners are free to grow what they wish in their garden, but are required to keep the area weed-free and to pick produce promptly. The garden will be open between April 1 and Oct. 30 during daylight hours.

In addition to the 20 plots set aside for personal gardens, there will be two more

plots — one where children will be free to pick flowers in bloom and produce in season, and one which will grow produce that will be donated to a local food pantry.

Le Vine, who is the council's liaison to the Neighborhood Pride Committee, said

the area has access to a water source. He said the community garden is a Neighborhood Pride Committee project which hopes to bring residents to "work the land together" in tandem with the Center Street project the committee spearheaded. That project includes events such as the Center Street block party.

Le Vine said representatives from the Monmouth County Master Gardeners program have been invited to take part in the community garden and will till the soil and prepare it for growing.

"They will also test the soil for nutrients and make sure it is ready to grow vegetables," he said.

Debbie Keelan, who chairs the Neighborhood Pride Committee, is already thinking about planting tomatoes, broccoli and string beans on her piece of land in the community garden. Keelan said she thinks the garden will make the community "better" and "give people the opportunity to know one another."

She believes it will be more than just a garden.

"I think this project will help people to do things together, you know, like in the olden days, before air conditioning when people spent more time outside together, Keelan said. "Instead of one person working on a garden, people can help one another with the planting. And this will allow some people who may never have had the opportunity to meet to get to know one another. The community has really taken to things like this, more than anyone can imagine. They really want it."