What happened to the Maplewood Community Garden? archived

Yes there is in fact still a Maplewood Community Garden. As you say on Feb.3rd members signed up and shortly thereafter we were filled to capacity and now have a waiting list. The town had approved the site behind Town Hall a few weeks prior to the Feb.3rd meeting. Shortly after that we organized and accomplished the things already noted. In addition we have been promised funding from a variety of community sources. All of this was done under the auspices of the Township. The site had been approved by Jan Zientek coordinator of the Rutgers Master Gardener Program in Essex County.

We were surprised and dismayed when the approval of this project was rescinded. Joseph Manning Township administrator recommended this project be canceled, stating that there were "drainage issues." He offered no further explanation. Victor De Luca and Fred Profeta requested that alternate areas be found for the garden project. With Jan we have identified several alternate locations. These will be presented to the Town Council for their approval on April6th. We welcome anyone interested to attend the meeting and support the efforts of those of us dedicated to seeing the garden through to fruition.

We look forward to preparing the plots and being able to produce vegetables for our tables and needy families and being able to instruct our children
in healthy eating habits. What better way to demonstrate that Maplewood is a Green town.

What Maplewood Community Garden? When was the sign up or did you have to know someone? Who are the organizers/committee? I can't find it on the Township website. Anywhere I can read by-laws, details, etc?

they should put it in dehart park......that would certainly be interesting..wouldnt it...plenty of aerated soil.....you could create a path right on over to the dyfs building...

What time is the meeting April 6th? Where is it?

If this is where and when the community can sign up for garden space, then I would like to do it.

In fact, it does not feel good to hear that there was a meeting and all of the garden spaces were already assigned and that there is even a waiting list? On this go-round, I hope communication vastly improves: at the very least, let's see notices on the boards and in shop windows around town and in the local papers. C'mon guy, communicate! This is a great idea, let's do this right!

I hope the new site will easily accommodate all of the residents who want to participate....

The meeting will be held on April 6th at 7;30. This is a Town Council meeting. We are hoping the size of the plot granted by the council will allow for more
spaces to be allowed for those interested. We are a group of people who are trying to make this work for as many interested participants as possible.
Some members of the group have said they are willing to share space in their plots.

Where is the meeting?

(Is the Town Council the same as the Township Committee?)

The meeting will be held at Town Hall, the municipal building on Valley Street. Township Committee would have been a better choice of words........

Who are 'we', this 'group'? Anyone know any names? Anyone to contact? Sounds like icdart is the anonymous group spokesperson ...

Anyone who was back there (behind town hall) where they planned to put it during the rains the other week wouldn't be complaining about them not putting the garden there. It was absolutely flooded, raised beds or not, NOT an acceptable place for a community garden. And yeah I agree with others who said it should have been an open public sign up process just like the green house process. it certainly seems like only those in the know got the option to get a space and now everyone else can be on a wait list? Not very fair, especially if it's going to be on town property. Even if the town doesn't put money to it we are all paying toward town property and should get equal opportunity. And if anyone thinks the town isn't going to be paying for it long term they are mistaken. The town will be contributing water at the very least and that costs money, check you own water bills people.

As an aside, community gardens are a great idea, but aren't particularly something everyone would want to be looking at. I understand the front of town hall is being considered as a possibility for it? not really a good place for it... the people pushing this project forward should take the time to get community input before rushing to make it happen.

Mmed, I signed up for a plot and I am definitely *not* in the know. I found out and knew about for awhile from the MOL and the Patch.

I found out about on Patch & signed up.

mmed & chroma - there is no conspiracy. There is just a small handful of people are volunteers & who have lives and are doing this nights & weekends and wherever they can grab a moment. As far as communicating to the community at large - it was on MOL & Patch. If you want it more places - sign up and volunteer to be the communications director. We're gardeners - not PR execs. Do you want us to take a full page ad out in the SL or NR? If so when and how many times? What about those people who don't get either paper? Where's the $ coming from for that?

crunchy - probably not your real name - whisper or click on icdart and send them a msg. Or better yet - search MOL/Patch and you'll see the names and people involved.

mmed - a bit cranky aren't we? Join us. Volunteer to help out wherever needed - instead of whining how unfair it is or how it should be open to everyone. It is open to everyone but it is limited to the space and how many plots can fit where. There are 20K+ people in Maplewood - they all can't have a plot. It was first come first served. Just like the greenhouses. Pretty fair. The more people we have helping the more people can have gardens. Join us and work with us. If it becomes a success - more plots can be added as space is identified.

I'm sure there is no conspiracy, and we all appreciate everyone's hard work to get this up and running.

However, I just did a search on MOL and everything that came up was apparently after the meeting when people signed up for spaces.

I think the best way to do this is to do a separate thread: you know, with "Maplewood Community Garden Meeting and Signup for Spaces." How about doing this for the April 6th meeting? That way everyone will know.

(BTW, in the future, it might be a good idea to schedule meetings of this nature not during school vacations... )

chroma2 -

The was an article on Patch - http://maplewood.patch.com/articles/when-times-are-tough-the-tough-grow-vegetables , that was the time they called for volunteers and sign up. At least 40+ people read it, came and signed up.

In fact there are 6 articles on Patch spread out from Jan to March. Again - we're gardeners - not PR execs.

As for signing up on 4/6 - What do you propose for those of us that made the 2/3/10 meeting, sent in our $ and gave our time? Are we SOL because you want in? There is already a list of people waiting. Everything is in place to start - except the Town took away the space. The April 6th meeting is to get approval & new space, again, from the Town.

As for the scheduling of the meeting during school break - wouldn't have needed to do it them if the Town hadn't gone back on it's word. It's the next town meeting. It's also our last chance to get this done for this year.

So, come to the meeting if you can. Contact icdart for more info. Put your name on the list. Come and help us get this done.

I'm guessing you're a bit irritated because you didn't get in. I can understand that - but turn that energy into something good and come help make this a reality. If the TC doesn't see the community support - no one gets anything.

There was a picture and info about it on the front page of MOL way before any meeting. People miss a lot when they don't read the front page.

I recall seeing it on MOL and thinking this was a cool idea, similar to the large plot in Millburn behind Neighborhood House (which, I understand, is also verrry tough to get into).

As to the (hopefully only rumored) idea of a community garden in FRONT of Town Hall... please no. No, no, no, no, no. No.

Since January, a group of Maplewood residents have come together in order to establish a community garden. Our goal is to develop a community garden in Maplewood to promote sustainable organic gardening practices, to share produce with community organizations and those in need, to provide a place of beauty for others to enjoy, to act as a catalyst for neighborhood and community interaction, and to provide gardening opportunities and education programs for children.

The idea for a community garden in Maplewood originated with Irene Dunsavage, who recently retired after teaching art at the Clinton School for 26 years. While working on her Master Gardener certification at Rutgers, she visited some of the other community gardens in the area and came to believe that Maplewood should also have one. Irene learned that over 30 Maplewood residents had completed the Master Gardener’s Course at Rutgers. Irene began to take steps to recruit members and gather support for the garden.

In December, she contacted Township Committee member Kathy Leventhal and the Towns’ business manager Joe Manning with her idea. In January, three presentations were made to the Township Committee and to the Town’s Green Team. The proposal for the garden was placed on the agenda at the Committee meetings in February and March. In addition to publicity from the Township Committee meetings, Irene’s efforts to establish a community garden were reported in various local news outlets, including Maplewood Patch, Maplewood Muse, and the Maplewoodian in February and March. The Township Committee has been supportive of the idea and the response from the community has been quite strong. Twenty-seven families have come together to register for plots and begin planning for the garden.

Over the last few months, we have made great strides toward starting the garden. We have established a non-profit corporation to administer and fund the garden. We have secured commitments from donors to provide funding so that the garden will be entirely self-funded. We have secured a donation of organic soil from the Presby Gardens in Montclair. We have consulted with gardening experts and made plans for constructing the garden and the individual raised plots. We have planned to dedicate one plot exclusively for children to learn basic gardening techniques with an instructional emphasis on health issues and a connection to the district's science curriculum. We have established guidelines for the gardeners to ensure that the garden is organic and healthy. We have reached out to the community to secure volunteers from local schools to assist in the garden. We have made plans to establish two “community plots” in the garden which will be worked by all garden members to donate all produce from community plots to local food banks. Each member will sign up for a week to garden the community plots.

In short, we have put a great deal of thought and effort into creating a viable plan for a responsible community garden here in Maplewood. We have done all the groundwork necessary for the garden and we are ready to build the plots, lay the soil, and begin gardening… except that we do not yet have a location. We have been working diligently with the Town in order to find a suitable location. This process has confirmed the obvious difficulty of such an endeavor: Maplewood is a small town and there is not a lot of open unused space. We have considered various locations. We initially believed the garden could be located in the plot behind Town Hall but in mid-March, the Town Engineer concluded that the site was not appropriate because of concerns over flooding.

We have considered several other locations since losing the plot behind Town Hall. We have concluded that the best option available to us is to locate the community garden in front of Town Hall. The space is large enough to accommodate a large garden. It is relatively flat, it gets a lot of sun, and there is access to water and electricity. Perhaps most importantly, there are no competing uses for the lawn. It is not part of an athletic field or park with established users who would object to losing a precious piece of open space. Finally, there are no immediately abutting neighbors who might be affected.

We have also proposed as an alternative site the upper field in Orchard Park between the tennis courts and Gefken Florists. This small field meets all the criteria for the garden and would be an excellent location. It is large enough for the garden to accommodate more than the 30 plots we have panned. It is flat and easily accessible. It gets plenty of sun and there is access to water and electricity. Other than an annual football game on Thanksgiving, the field is not really used for organized sports because it is not big enough for a field for soccer, lacrosse, football, or baseball. We have been advised, however, that there is a possibility that this field will be used this year by athletic teams who ordinarily use Dehart Park who have been dislocated by construction there. We have been given conflicting information about this and we have no confirmation as to the availability of this field. If there is no conflicting athletic use, we propose this site as an alternative.

By the end of this week, we will submit a detailed written proposal to the Township Committee outlining our proposed plan and all of the work we have done to establish a community garden. The proposal will also be available online. We realize that some may object to having the garden at Town Hall. Town Hall is a beautiful building in no small part because of the large green lawn that surrounds it. We are working very hard to design a functional and beautiful garden. We are mindful of these aesthetic concerns and we hope that, by providing a detailed proposal, we will address any potential objections and to persuade the Township Committee and the residents of Maplewood that the garden will provide a wonderful resource for the residents of Maplewood, wherever it is located.

We hope all Maplewood residents will review our proposal carefully and with an open mind and give us their opinions on the proposal. If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us directly by e-mail at MaplewoodCG@gmail.com. We hope that you will attend the April 6th meeting of the Township Committee and that you will support the community garden.

Matthew Schwartz

I would love to have a community garden and obtain a plot. However---the front lawn of the town hall is NOT the appropriate location for this endeavor.

I'm generally against the aesthetic police (ie., the historical committee), but to ruin this beautiful expanse of open space would be wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Of course, it would be nice to just go over there and pick someone else's tomatoes.:wink:

Have you all actually talked to the local food pantries about donating the produce from the community plots? When I offered my abundance of cucumbers (I had more than 100) to a local pantry, I was told that they did not accept donations of fresh produce because they were not set up to deliver said produce.

A system has been established to deliver produce to those families in need. Also some of the children in these families will be learning garden skills from the project.

You have 27 families, thats maybe 54 adults. You have no room for anyone else to get a plot, but you ask for volunteers to help you? You're asking others to volunteer for nothing yet get all uptight about the work you've done so far justifying your getting plots.

And MOL, Patch, etc. are private media. Spaces should have been offered on township website, district flyer, etc. and notice given of a future sign up date, giving folks time to find out about the garden. If you truly believe in being fair to the community and this is about Maplewood becoming greener and not just about you getting your own plots, you should not mind redoing the signup to make it right.

No, you are clearly not communications/pr experts and went about it the wrong way. You admit it yet resist backing up and making it fair for all residents to participate.

And really, you've accepted full rent for a garden that does not exist.

And front of town hall, not only unsightly, but what about big gatherings like 4th of July. Perhaps instead of using perfectly nice green space and taking that pleasure away form those who are not getting you plots, you might consider brown space somewhere that needs greening?

Perhaps open your minds and consider a do-over, starting fresh and giving everyone a real fair chance. If those who paid are upset, let them drop out, there looks like many more who will be happy to replace them.

Hey, there's another way around this. Anyone want to start another group and whomever gets the right proposal and location first gets the plots?

Crunchy - you sound like sour grapes.

Fine - start your own group - I wish you all the luck!

Oh - and please remember to advertise in every single media outlet that anyone in Maplewood may just possibly read...

Joy (not). Maybe it will be a private group like yours - what's good for the goose ...

Interesting you're so defensive ...

crunchy..........

your biggest complaint seems to be that you found no notice of the Community Garden on the Maplewood Township Website..........That was no fault of ours......Also, ask yourself, how many people read the town website and totally ignore MOL, the Patch and the other media that cover the town.
They covered our efforts extensively.
Try expanding your horizons a little.............

Crunchy - my are you the witty one. Not.

Go tend to your poison ivy garden - you're a troll.

Oh JOY! Name calling! And you're the self-righteous organic community gardener? Your poison ivy's in your head, not so easy to Round-Up.

What exactly do you volunteer to do for this Community Garden besides dispensing hate on its behalf?

Crunchy:

I would encourage you, and anyone else interested in having a plot in the garden, to contact us by e-mail at MaplewoodCG@gmail.com. Right now, we have four on the waiting list and there are many who have signed up for plots who are willing to share plots. We may be able to add a few more plots or split some plots so that we can give everyone a chance to garden.

Our goal is to involve as many people as possible and we will make every effort to accommodate all those who would like to garden.

Matthew Schwartz

First, Matthew Schwartz, thank you for your civil response.

I'm not interested in a plot. I'm interested in seeing if the town does right by the community at large, not just your little interest group. I'm curious, how many committee members do you have governinig this and will they be assigned plots in perpetuity? Will the plots be open to the public next year or will those signed up keep them as long as they want?

Unlike SO, you have no policies and procedures posted. That's why you are open to so much questioning and a number of your members have been defensive and antagonistic in their replies. Real concerns are not being addressed, just the same defenses and history repeated. Recognizing missteps and controversy, it might be the hard but appropriate thing for your committee to step back and start fresh, fair and open. But it's now about those who paid justifying to keep what they feel is theirs. It's not theirs.

It's pie in the sky, it's town land that hasn't been approved and is now controversial. Residents have a right to adequate notice when open space and parks are to be handed over to be physically altered and governed by a special interest group.

But your group is entrenched and seems like will fight to the death, no matter how many fellow residents object that you went about things the wrong way. You began as a community group with a fine idea; you now seem, to me, to be a 27 member private interest group. Your beautiful vision has turned ugly, but your group is pushing away anyone holding a mirror.

Most of us critics are actually trying to help design a community garden that's going to work for everyone; but your group has your 27 plot design and will not budge.

Crunchy: I am not sure why, from your very FIRST post, you have sounded so angry???....

It appears you may want to get involved in this project, so why don't you contact one of the organizers (off line perhaps) and see how all your time and energy can be put to use in furthering this project in a productive and POSITIVE way.

I truly appreciate the group's efforts in getting this excellent idea off the ground, but I also object to the door being closed before the community at large really knows about it.

I also find the circling-the-wagons of the group puzzling: this is supposed to be, after all, a "community" effort, and our community is, by its very nature, inclusive. It seems to me that you (we) should want to select a site that will accommodate as many residents as possible, and for a community with 22,500 residents, 27 plots is just way too small.

It also seems to me that we have some great resources here, including the incredible Maplewood Garden Club, and it would be in everyone's best interest if they were included: no, better, embraced, given their vast knowledge and many contributions to the community already. I would bet that they would have some terrific and practical ideas to contribute not only to getting this off the ground but to keeping it going, given their own longevity.

Finally, a few suggestions: what about Waterlands? Is any of it in Maplewood? How about Maplecrest Park: seems like some of the areas there are not used, like near the Police Station? DeHart Park has huge sunny areas: are they all slated for athletic fields? All three of these would have access to water, all are accessible.

I agree that the space in front of Town Hall shouldn't be used for visual reasons: this is an iconic building set off by its green space: not something to mess with, IMHO.

Seems to me that the criteria should be:

Adequate sun, water, space to include all residents who want to participate; an accessible place that is visually appropriate for the town.

I'll be there on April 6th....

Just reading about Chatham's Community Garden. It's going to be on Main St. and Division Ave. - almost to Madison. I pass the spot on my way to Madison Honda. Guess this is just beginning . Plots are awarded by lottery. That sounds like a fair way.