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As reported by Skagit Publishing and the Skagit Valley Herald:
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Carrots, kale and community could sprout on city land this spring
March 07, 2009 - 07:00 AM
March 07, 2009 - 07:00 AM
by Joan Pringle
(photo from goskagit.com) Imagine corn stalks, green bean vines and sunflowers basking in the sun in this vacant lot behind Skagit County education specialist Callie Martin, left, Beat the Heat members Evelyn Adams and Betty Carteret, city Operations / Forest Lands Manager Jonn Lunsford, and Beat members Casey Bazewick and Kristi Hein. It could all happen this summer as the organizations have combined forces to start a community garden on land behind San Juan Lanes.
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The hope is to grow some vegetables — and some public interest — in a community garden on a vacant lot behind San Juan Lanes bowling alley.
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The approximately quarter acre of city land is between 28th and 29th streets. Skagit Beat the Heat, a community organization working to slow global warming and promote sustainability, wants to transform the parcel into a dozen or more individual garden plots for residents.
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“Anyone in Anacortes who basically wants to grow their own vegetables who doesn’t have their own garden space,” said Betty Carteret, who’s heading the project with Laurie Sherman and other members of the Beat the Heat committee.
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The lots will be assigned first come, first served for a nominal annual fee, approximately $30, to help pay for water and other ongoing operational costs, Carteret said. Other spots may be designated for reduced rates for people who don’t have the money to pay for a plot.
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The committee is organizing with the hope of having the plots ready by Memorial Day or early June.
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“It depends on a lot of things coming together,” Carteret said.
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Already, committee members have visited three community gardens sponsored by the Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department to get ideas on how to design the Anacortes project, Carteret said.
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The group was in the mist of trying find a suitable location for the garden when the Anacortes Parks and Recreation Department suggested the southeast section of the lot next to Bayview Apartments, kitty-corner from the playground.
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The city is currently having soil samples from the property tested to make sure no hazardous contaminants are present. It’s an unlikely situation since the property is only known to have had a house on it in the past.
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If all goes well, the city could be installing a water meter and piping for the garden this spring, said city Operations/Forestlands Manager Jonn Lunsford. It’ll also provide some leftover fencing from an old baseball field volunteers can put up around the property — as was done at the dog park.
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Beat the Heat members plan to ask the city to put its $2,000 prize money from the Auto Magic contest into the project. The funds will likely go to a shed for storing wheelbarrows and other garden tools, Carteret said.
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An information meeting with neighborhood residents will be mid-March. And an Earth Day event is tentatively planned for Saturday, April 18 to get the area established for planting and for the first sign-ups for plots.
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“We plan to have 10-foot-by-20-foot beds and depending on how many gardeners sign up, we will either allocate a full bed or half bed to each gardener,” Carteret said. “If we get more gardeners than plots we will start a wait list for future availability in this garden or if we have additional gardens in the future.”
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The project could expand to include additional city or even private property for more community gardens. Two relatively simple things would have to happen to make it possible, Lunsford said. First, there would have to be a change in the city’s zoning code to allow community gardens in all areas of the city. Second, there would have to be a hold harmless agreement between the city and private land owner, eliminating liability on the part of the owner.
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“We’re trying to make this as easy and simple for people without yard space to garden,” Lunsford said.
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The end result will be similar to Seattle’s P-Patch project that began in the 1970s and has since grown to approximately 70 neighborhood gardens.
That program has a strong focus on community building and become a major proponent of food security and a source of fresh produce to local food banks, Carteret said. It has also broadened to include a nonprofit trust that today supports the program financially and purchases properties for more gardens. And it was instrumental in getting community gardens written into Seattle’s comprehensive plan.
That program has a strong focus on community building and become a major proponent of food security and a source of fresh produce to local food banks, Carteret said. It has also broadened to include a nonprofit trust that today supports the program financially and purchases properties for more gardens. And it was instrumental in getting community gardens written into Seattle’s comprehensive plan.
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Similar to the Seattle program, the local group hopes to set aside space for food grown specifically for local food banks. Another idea is to include an area with elevated garden beds accessible to seniors and wheelchair users similar to what was done in a former children’s garden on San Juan Rehabilitation and Care Center property.
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“This will be part of our Phase II of the garden and we are looking for partners who are willing to help with the design and construction of that area of the garden,” Carteret said. “It will be installed following the initial opening of the garden plots either later this year or next year.”
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The committee plans to establish a community garden advisory committee with representatives from various organizations including Beat the Heat, the city, Master Gardeners and Skagit County’s master compost program within its solid waste division.
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Callie Martin, waste reduction recycling education specialist with the division, plans to set up a composting area at the garden and possibly hold workshops there on how to compost, Carteret said.
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Some people may ask what a community garden has to do with climate change. But Carteret pointed out that the transportation of food is a major contributor to the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. The long-term availability and cost of fuel adds to the concerns.
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The community garden would help lesson the need to transport food and in turn lower carbon emissions. It will also help develop a sustainable food infrastructure in the community and provide local sources of food.
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Carteret said the committee wants to encourage local residents, clubs or service groups to support the garden either through donations — money, garden tools, building materials or supplies — or by organizing work crews to help with the garden installation. She can be reached at 299-8553.
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City’s Auto Magic Competition
City’s Auto Magic Competition
Skagit Beat the Heat members were so successful in one of their many goals, they’ll be getting $2,000 to help with the next one.
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The community organization working to slow global warming and promote sustainability was the winner of the city of Anacortes’ Auto Magic competition.
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Beat the Heat members logged nearly 20,000 car miles saved in 2008 in the contest designed to encourage people to walk, bike, ride the bus or share a car. That’s equivalent to more than 18,000 pounds of CO2 that wasn’t released into the atmosphere.
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Members won the right to tell the city where to spend the $2,000 prize and voted to use it to give their community garden a healthy kickoff.
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For more information on Beat the Heat or to volunteer to help with its community garden project, go to http://www.skagitbeattheheat.org/ or contact Betty Carteret at 360-299-8553 or Laurie Sherman at 360-588-8075.
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Good job reporting, Skagit Valley Herald, and good job, Joan Pringle of the Anacortes American!
If you look closely, the orange-dot road builder guy is framed by this barricade. What a great place to be working on a sunny afternoon. 
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