Would-be gardeners become frustrated waiting years for one of 70 community plots
MAIN STREET —Kneeling beside her lemon-scented geraniums, artichokes and collard greens, community gardener Susan McCorry beams with pride and a sense of accomplishment.
Not only have her crops performed well despite the erratic weather, so have efforts to grow City Hall’s community gardens program, which offers small plots of city-owned land to residents looking to test their green thumbs.
“It seems that all of our hard work is starting to pay off,” said McCorry, chair of the garden advisory committee, who spends much of her free time pulling weeds and planting vegetables in her roughly 100-square-foot garden located at Main and Strand streets. “It looks as if our efforts are starting to bear fruit.”
McCorry and other horticulturists have worked diligently over the last two years with members of the Recreation and Parks Commission and city staff to increase the number of community gardens and refine rules and regulations to accommodate the ever-increasing demand.
There are currently 70 community gardens on approximately one-half acre of land — 60 at 2200 Main Street and the remaining 10 on Park Drive, just off Broadway. That number will increase by 52 plots in the coming months, representing a 74 percent bump in the number of gardens in the city, according to a city staff report. The new plots, which will be located on Park Drive and the still-under construction Euclid Park, will include two soil beds that will be elevated for those who are handicapped. There will also be three “demonstration” gardens where city staff and horticulturists can demonstrate proper gardening techniques.
“We have such a high demand that we are doing whatever we can to come up with creative ways to create more gardens,” McCorry said.
There are currently 80 households on a waiting list for plots, with an average wait of about four years. That is an improvement over prior years when applicants have waited as long as six years to secure a plot. McCorry said she waited that long before she was given some soil.
“When I got my garden, I felt like I had won the lottery,” McCorry said.
The demand is so high because many residents live in apartments and do not have a backyard of their own to till, McCorry said.
To accommodate, City Hall is considering a wide range of options, including dividing larger plots whose gardeners are having difficulty maintaining their land. Rather than have these gardeners lose their plots, city staff is considering paring them with those on the waiting list, matching veterans with rookies in a mentoring program that can further enhance community gardens.
In the development phase of any new park, community gardens are being considered along with other recreational amenities. City staff is also looking at converting underuti-lized areas to community gardens.
Private and city owned buildings might also be retrofitted or designed to accommodate rooftop gardens. Partnerships between gardeners and schools could also be developed, matching mentors with students who cultivate their own land for shared benefit. Another innovative idea being considered is the creation of a front-yard registry in which homeowners who do not have enough time to build their own gardens can partner with community members on the waiting list who are willing to work together.
“We are continuing to look at all of our options,” said Kathy LeProvost, City Hall’s community programs manager. “We will be expanding the program, but due to the large interest in community gardening, the demand for plots will still not be fully met.”
For McCorry, it is critical for the survival of the city to find more plots. By gardening, residents are helping the city be more sustainable.
“More gardens help lower the temperature of the city, bring in pollinators and help provide clean air for us to breathe,” McCorry said as she plucked greens for a salad. “Besides, there’s nothing more incredible than growing your own food. The taste is just unbelievable.”
Fellow gardener Sally Kutsunai said her plot has not only helped bring her family closer together, but has provided a great release for her on days when she is feeling a little overwhelmed.
“Whenever I get stressed, I come out here and pull some weeds,” said Kutsunai, who was on the waiting list for six years before securing a plot two years ago.
In addition to signing off on efforts by the gardening committee and city staff to create more plots, the City Council this week also approved a band on genetically-engineered plants, keeping with the custom of growing only organic fruits and vegetables.
Genetically engineered plants are created by artificially cutting and splicing genes of different, unrelated plants to create a whole new plant species with different qualities from the original plant. The reason for genetically engineered plants is to increase production while cutting down on labor costs, two factors that have minimal bearing on the community gardening concept, LeProvost said.
“The goals for community gardening are to promote personal fulfillment, education and an active and healthy lifestyle through the growing of organic plans for personal use,” LeProvost said.
The potential dangers of developing genetically engineered plants are the possibility of creating soil toxicity and sterilization, stripping the nitrogen from the soil and upsetting the natural biological order by promoting the development of “super pests” that would be resistant to existing environmentally safe pest deterrents, LeProvost said.
“Super weeds” could also develop that would negatively affect the community biosystem as a whole, she added.
“While genetically engineered plants are really not an issue for us here, it’s good to put the ban in place anyway,” McCorry said. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 9, 2006. Read the original PDF.