Avon Lake’s First Community Garden Could Sprout By Spring

The city of Avon Lake could have its first community garden up and running at Troy Intermediate School by the beginning of planting season, May 15.

Dale Cracas, one of the individuals involved in the project said the garden, under the flag of the non-profit Friends of the Park, would be approximately a half-acre in size and located just south of the parking lot at Lots, either 10-foot by 10-foot or 4-foot by 12-foot will be available to residents on a first-com basis.

“We haven’t decided yet on the lot size,” Cracas said, noting that the issue still needs approval by the Avon Lake Planning Commission on March 1 to erect an 8-foot deer fence around the garden.

Depending on the individual lot size, the garden will have 110 or 136 spots. Fourteen of those spots have been designated to the school district and city churches. Three spots will be raised and handicapped accessible. Prices of those lots would most likely range between $15 and $25.

The garden, also being organized by the Avon Lake Garden Club, could prove to be a boon on several fronts.

“We formed a partnership with schools and city,” Cracas said. “We’re going to be offering educational programs for the schools.”

Cracas has met with Superintendent of Schools Bob Scott and community groups, including the Avon Lake Kiwanis Club. 

Community gardens are becoming more popular. 

In 2009, the city of Shaker Height entered in an agreement with a non-profit group, The Community Gardens of Shaker Heights, to allow a garden to be maintained and managed on city property on Rolliston Road. The garden was created on a property where a house, since demolished, once stood. The license agreement similarly requires the garden be available to city residents.

The Rolliston Road garden has 29 4x10 plots that area available for $35 each. Shaker Heights also hosts the Larchmere Community Garden.

The Ben Franklin Community Garden in Old Brooklyn has been serving the community since 1979, making it one of the oldest in the Greater Cleveland area. 

"We have more than 200 plots that are 20 x 25 each," Sandy Worona, outreach coordinator for the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, which manages the garden, said. 

The garden, located on school grounds at the Ben Franklin School on Spring Road, has the assistance of a master gardener. Plots are $30 each. 

"It works great," Worona said. "I had a spot there when I was growing up." 

The Avon Lake School district isn’t the only group who could benefit from a community garden. Cracas said a community garden could also benefit local food banks.

“We’ll be encouraging donations to CRS (,” Cracas said. “We hope churches will donate part of their produce to the needy.”

Cracas sees the garden as a place to foster community and relationships.

“It’s not just a garden,” Cracas said. “Once people get involved, fellow gardeners form a community. It will bring a community closer together. People will spend time talking to each other.”

Due to the close proximity of plots, only organic gardening will be permitted. Cracas said there are tentative plans to hold organic gardening classes at the library.

The garden does have a price tag. The cost for the fence is approximately $2,400 for fence, not including labor, and a sprinkler system is between $1,200 and $1,500. That price could be reduced with a donation of labor or product, which is tax-deductible through Friends of the Park, a 501(c) 3 organization.

“If someone wants to donate services, we’re willing to take it,” Cracas said, adding the organization is also applying for grants.

Community members interested in donating time or money can contact Cracas at 933-4431. To rent a lot, contact Mary Pease at 440-864-9170. For information on the project contact Holly Kowalski at 440-933-4695 or Kim Brown at 440-930-5532.