Led by residents who live in the neighborhood, a group of locals is seeking permission to create a “community garden” for New Canaan in a largely disused area of Kiwanis Park.
Beyond the tree is the proposed grassy area for the community garden. Credit: Michael Dinan
An expanse of grass in the northeastern part of the Old Norwalk Road park could lend itself to an approximately 6,000-square-foot garden that town residents could use to grow mostly vegetables as well as fruit and flowers, New Canaan’s Lisa Creighton told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their Nov. 13 meeting.
“The garden itself will increase the appeal and usage of Kiwanis Park,” Creighton said at the appointed body’s regular meeting, held at Lapham Community Center and via videoconference.
During a presentation to the Commission, Creighton listed some of the expected benefits of the garden, including community beautification, social connection, educational opportunities, food security and sustainability.
Creighton, who’d been involved with community gardens in Washington, D.C. in the past said that in her experience such gardens “build social cohesion,” bringing together people who normally wouldn’t interact.
She added that a community garden such as what’s envisioned for Kiwanis lends itself to wide “peer-to-peer education” where adults learn from each other “about the stewardship of land, planting and seedlings.”
Though the organic plants grown in a community garden are designed to serve those who have secured plots, there often is excess, Creighton said. Such a “bumper crop” could go to a basket available to the public or could be directed toward a worthy nonprofit organization such as New Canaan-founded Filling In The Blanks or the New Canaan Food Pantry located at St. Mark’s.
In New Canaan, the community garden also would draw bees and other insects with its native flowers and plants, becoming part of the “pollinator pathway.”
Commissioners asked Creighton whether she would expect participating gardeners to grow flowers or vegetables or both (primarily vegetables, and there typically are rules laid out regarding what can be planted), whether a planned shed storing tools and compost would be permanent or temporary (the latter, a wooden tool shed that is freestanding and can be moved), how many people would be able to use such a community garden (about 30), how 6,000 square feet compares to Darien’s community garden (Darien’s is far larger at 1 acre compared to about .14 acres for New Canaan), whether the community garden would be open to New Canaan residents only (yes) and how the garden’s environmental impact would be assured (it would be organic-only).
Parks & Rec Secretary Francesca Segalas said, “I think it’s a great idea.”
The proposal is emerging after a community garden at the New Canaan Nature Center had to be dismantled following soil testing.
A planning committee that includes Kiwanis neighbors and others representing a wide swath of the town has already formed, Creighton said. The committee identified a second possible site for the garden deeper into Kiwanis, but has found it would be very difficult to run the garden there while a popular summer camp operates in the same area.
The garden beds themselves would be slightly “raised” and sized 10-by-10-feet, Creighton said, with an approximately 6-foot-high fence surrounding the planted area to keep out wildlife. The fence would become unnoticeable, especially in the growing season, she said. Other practical to-do’s include establishing a water source for the garden.
It would be self-managing, with assigned roles, written rules and regulations, volunteer work days, biannual member meetings and a budget supported, in part, by modestly priced memberships (for example, $30 to $100 annually), Creighton said. (If needed,
Prospective partners at the community garden would include the New Canaan Community Foundation, Beautification League of New Canaan, New Canaan Garden Club, Planet New Canaan and both the Girl and Boy Scouts, she said.
In terms of assigning specific plots to those seeking them, Creighton said a lottery could work better than first-come, first-served, and that some plots could be set aside for those who don’t have the ability to start their own gardens—for example, people who are renting.
Though members of the Parks & Rec Commission voiced support for the project, they took no formal vote on the proposal. An advisory body to the Board of Selectmen, Parks & Rec typically makes a recommendation to the town’s highest office in vetting new proposals for use of public parks.