SHREWSBURY — Shovels will be in the ground in time for this year’s growing season as plans for the Shrewsbury Community Garden move forward.
The Shrewsbury Borough Council made a formal motion in support for a community garden at its April 2 meeting when it gave a tentatively named Shrewsbury Community Garden Committee as the official borough entity to head the project.
Though a resolution for the garden has yet to be passed and voted on by council members, the new committee has the authority to make final decisions over the details of the project as well as the ability to formally apply for grants to assist in funding.
“There was no sanctioned group [before] per say. This is really the first ability to recognize the group as a collective, formal organization,” said Maureen Collins, a member of the Shrewsbury Garden Club (SGC), in an April 6 interview.
“It does a couple things. It allows us to apply for grants and other outside funding sources to finance the project. The Garden Club of New Jersey has grants available for the funding of community gardens, but until we were a recognized entity, there was no way to apply for those funds.”
The Shrewsbury Garden Club is providing a seed grant of $250.
Mayor Don Burden is expected to appoint community members to the official Shrewsbury Community Garden Committee, which will then iron out and finalize the details of the proposed community garden at one of two sites on the Borough Municipal Complex.
“As Shrewsbury built out over the past few years, thankfully the borough acknowledged the importance of preserving some open space,” said Burden in an April 5 email.
“Using some of this space for a community garden will bring together some dedicated individuals and community organizations to garden in a protected and secure area. Shrewsbury was once very much a farming community and it is only fitting to provide space to continue these activities.”
Prior to an official committee being named, an ad hoc committee composed of members of the environmental commission, the garden club and interested residents began meeting last July and conducted the necessary research to propose the community garden before council.
“It’s also an important step because much of the research, in terms of the scope, the size and the proposed location, has already been done, so this allows the community to take that research and move forward in a timely manner so that the garden can be in place this growing season,” said Collins.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to have a shovel in the ground by Memorial Day weekend.”
However, many aspects of the project have yet to be determined, including location, suitability of the soil, fencing, exposure to the sun and garden aesthetics.
“Beyond location, that’s sort of simple in relation to the rest, but what about your fence design? What about your layout for the garden size overall? What about your layout for the individual plots for the individual members? Lots of moving parts there,” said ad hoc committee member Bill Gerth in an interview on April 6.
“We have been working toward defining the elements, proposing concepts and we’re still in the process of making final decisions. So is the garden going to be 50 x100 feet or 75 x 150 feet? That’s a huge difference in implications in terms of budgets.”
According to Gerth, subcommittees within the Shrewsbury Community Garden Committee would eventually be established and responsible for membership, operational issues, beautification and community outreach.
It is estimated that the project will cost roughly $20,000 over a two-year period, but Gerth said the most important issue right now is getting started with the 20 to 25 members who are currently active in developing the rules and regulations of the garden .
“There’s a lot of work we still have to do here, but again, a lot of people have different views of what a community garden is and can be, and I think what’s really important in this first year is that we just get going,” said Gerth.
“We’ll learn as time goes on, we’ll get better as time goes on, but for right now we just have to get going.”
According to Gerth, the tentative model for the garden is individual plots would be designated for individual members who would have the freedom to grow whatever they would like.
Eventually, the committee would like to include an educational component and designate one or two plots for local organizations that could then decide what to do with the crops, including donations to a local food bank.
“Education is a mission for us, and over time we can develop an education component not only for the members but for the community at large whether it be a Boy Scout or Girl Scout group or a church group or the Shrewsbury Borough School itself. We’d like to do that as we grow up a little bit,” said Gerth.
Once members of the Shrewsbury Community Garden Committee are appointed, the committee will return before the council with the final details of the project and a budget. The council is then likely to vote to move it forward to completion.
If any resident is interested in getting involved in the community garden, they can contact Gerth at 732-758-9270 or email at [email protected].
According to Collins, a determining factor in finalizing the project is the number of residents in the community who are interested in participating in the project.
“The garden will hopefully be designed in a manner that will allow for expansion or compaction of some of the plot space, depending on the amount of residents expressing interest in gardening,” said Collins.
“It was very encouraging to receive such overwhelming support from elected officials,” she continued. “It demonstrates on their part an understanding of the importance of a community garden. We think this is a win for all of Shrewsbury, and a community garden will do a lot to improve the quality of life in the entire community.”