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City breaks ground at garden By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Green thumbs and non-gardeners alike are invited to join in a ground- breaking celebration for the Ashland Community Garden this weekend. The celebration kicks off at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the garden, located at 27 East Hersey St. near the intersection with Oak Street. Master gardener Patrick Marcus, who is planning the event, said experts will give presentations on topics like starting and maintaining a community composting system, and the best times to plant various types of vegetables and flowers during the growing season. "I would encourage people to come to the site and participate from a community standpoint," Marcus said. "If they like what they see, they can join the community garden. We'll have sign-up sheets there. Even if they're not interested in joining, they can listen to the composting and scheduling information." The celebration will begin with welcoming comments followed by a site orientation tour, presentations and time for questions. "The master gardeners can answer questions from gardeners. 'This is a new plot of land. How do I get it going? How do I maintain the organic integrity of the site?' " Marcus said. The community garden went from idea to reality in just a matter of months. Local gardeners Carol Carlson and Carol Kale - who is now the volunteer garden manager - brought the idea to the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission last fall. In March, the commission unanimously approved use of a corner of undeveloped park land for the garden. Since then, Ashland Parks and Recreation Department staff have installed an irrigation system and a deer fence, tilled the soil and defined 43 garden plots of varying sizes to ready the land for opening day. Gardeners who have reserved plots are welcome to bring their tools and begin creating their new gardens on Saturday, staff said. As of Wednesday afternoon, 12 gardeners had reserved plots through the department's Environmental Stewardship Division, according to Paige Prewett, division outreach coordinator. "Once people see the sky is blue and know they can start gardening, it's going to take off," Prewett said. "People can't start gardening until the ground-breaking celebration." Participants must sign a contract agreement to follow organic gardening, water conservation, maintenance and clean-up rules. Marcus said the community composting system will be an important element in allowing gardeners to use organic methods. "One way to encourage sustainability is to reinvigorate the soil," he said. The garden will allow people to grow their own food and flowers in a low-impact way, according to Marcus. "This is a positive bit of news for the environment," he said. "It will encourage self-reliance, sustainability and hope." The garden includes 22 20-foot-by-20-foot plots for a $50 annual fee, four 10-foot-by-20-foot plots for $37, and 17 10-foot-by-10-foot plots for $25. To reserve a plot, call the Environmental Stewardship Division - housed in the North Mountain Park Nature Center - at 488-6606. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -