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Community Corner

New Growth at the Community Garden at Brook Run Park

The local garden expands to add about 35 new plots

The wait is almost over to get a space in the Community Garden at Brook Run Park.

The garden is expanding by about 20 feet on the left and right sides as you face the garden.

If the garden Board of Directors decides to keep the same 4x8 plot size and configuration in the new areas as there are in the original space, they will be able to accommodate about 35 new beds. If they make some beds larger than the current size, there will be somewhat fewer plots.

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Regardless, when the expansion is complete all of the 20-25 people on the waiting list will finally have a row to hoe.  Even better, the Board anticipates there will be room left over for plots for more people.

Don Converse put up corner posts last week to define the new perimeter. He, Jim Hines and Shawn Bard moved existing deer fencing and added some new fencing on Wednesday to finish one phase of the expansion.

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Converse was the first on the scene at about 9 a.m. Wednesday to install the new fencing. He was joined by Jim and later by Shawn, who is building a community garden at the Spruill Art Gallery. They finished about 4:30 in the afternoon.

With the re-configured fencing in place, those who have signed up for the new plots can start constructing the paths, pulling weeds, and putting down wood chips to mulch the paths. After that, they can start installing their planting beds, which can be raised or not. Then comes the fun part – planting! 

Converse says it’s difficult to know just when all the plots will begin bearing crops.  The paths between plots will be laid immediately. But, he says, it will be up to the people who are assigned the plots to decide if they want to put in a summer garden or wait until fall to begin planting.  The garden bylaws require that the plots be planted year round, even if it's just a cover crop.

Converse points out that the expansion is well within the footprint of what was always considered a part of "the" garden. For example, on the left side of the garden, the new area will not go as far as the blue berry bushes, the interactive path the Boy Scouts built in the woods or the piles of compost and wood chips. 

Converse says these areas have always been considered a part of the garden.

On the right, the expansion will take space that was part of what Converse describes as last year's not-so-successful pumpkin patch.

While one of the motivations for expanding the garden is to get everyone off the waiting list -- which has included 20-25 people since the garden was started -- there is a larger goal.

The Board doesn’t want the plots in the garden to be perceived as membership in some type of exclusive club.

Exclusivity was not an issue when the garden was installed. At the time, the west-facing hillside where the garden is now situated was a vacant lot that was owned by DeKalb County. The county had no plans to develop the land, so county officials gave permission for the land to be used as a garden.

Now, however, the land is Dunwoody city property and will be a part of a planned park that will be paid for by taxpayers. Therefore, Converse says the Board’s goal is to be as inclusive as possible.  The expansion will allow the Board to do that and offer room to everyone who wants a plot -– at least for now. There’s also room for another expansion if future interest warrants that. 

The expansion is not part of the park master plan. The Community Garden had been concerned that the master plan might call for the garden to be relocated. Even though the master plan is still being drawn up, the Community Garden has been told it will remain in its present location.

Converse says that Brent Walker, director of parks and recreation, has indicated that the city might consider installing some landscape detail such as a metal or wooden fence, or some rock work. But, Walker has let it be known that the Board is free, within reason, to do what they think is best for the site. 

Expansion, the Board agreed, fit those guidelines. We finally just grabbed the bull by the horns and decided to get it done, Converse said.

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