Community garden wins final OK

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May 19, 2009

Work starts on Plattsburgh community plots

By JOE LoTEMPLIO The Press Republican Tue May 19, 2009, 11:28 PM EDT

on the net

Plattsburgh Community Garden Group

www.plattsburghcommunitygarden.org

PLATTSBURGH — Organizers of Plattsburgh's new Community Garden wasted little time after receiving approval Monday night from the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Volunteers were out Tuesday unearthing sod and getting ready for the growing season.

"We are very excited about this, and as you can see, we are ready to go," garden organizer Douglas Butdorf said while rolling up sod.

The garden is staked out on a large field at Melissa L. Penfield Park, behind the baseball field.

It will feature 32 plots, which are each 25 feet long by 4 feet wide.

Growers paid $25 for their plots and will tend to their own crops.

"All the plots are taken for this year, and that was with very little effort," Butdorf said. "People just heard about it. Hopefully, we can make it a little bigger next year."

The garden is for people who want to grow fresh vegetables but do not have room or access to growing space.

The City of Plattsburgh Common Council approved the garden concept on April 30, and the Zoning Board unanimously approved a special-use permit Monday night to clear the way for work to get started.

Butdorf said growers and other volunteers will be out the rest of this week and on Saturday and Sunday preparing the ground for seeds and laying out plots.

An opening-day celebration is planned for noon Monday at the garden site.

"Anyone who wants to come and help this weekend is more than welcome to bring their shovels," Butdorf said.

The garden space used to be an old baseball field, and decades before that, it was part of the old county fairgrounds.

"There is about four to six inches of topsoil, so it should be good for growing," Butdorf said.

Conroy and Conroy Construction volunteered to install a water line to the garden, and Paul Dame of Bluff Point Country Club donated the job of stripping the sod.

Butdorf said local tree and landscape companies are giving mulch and wood chips for walking paths between garden plots.

Growers have agreed to donate some of their food to local food shelves.

"That's something we wanted to do to help out," Butdorf said.

One of the concerns about the garden was security.

Butdorf said the area will be roped off, and plots will be tagged with the grower's name.

"That way, people will get the idea that this is a blocked-off area and that it is somebody's food," Butdorf said.

He will provide City Police Chief Desmond Racicot with a list of growers so police know who is supposed to be there.

"We're not asking for any extra policing with this," Butdorf said.

"We hope people will recognize what this is and respect it."

E-mail Joe LoTemplio at: jlotemplio@pressrepublican.com