The rebirth of the community garden at the Dorothy F. Johnson Center at the corner of E 18th Street and Beech Street is well underway, thanks to a $3000 grant from the Rose Foundation and the dedication of a number of community members and groups.

A work party is scheduled for tomorrow morning (Saturday, May 30) from 8 am to 10 am.

The garden is presently seeking volunteer community members who are interested in maintaining a single garden plot for the benefit of all. This is an educational garden for the community, by the community--ideally, individual garden beds will have different themes, such as a culinary herb plot, areas highlighting traditional Hmong and Hispanic vegetables, and heirloom varieties of plants, including the locally developed "Bidwell's Casaba Melon." Reply to this post or contact Ben Linzmeier at 715.570.9458 for more information.

Passersby are welcome to snack on the veggies (Anyone for a sweet cherry tomato?), so long as they save some for the next person.

A special thank you to local general contractor Robin Trenda and his crew for donating the labor to install a snazzy new fence for the garden. Meeks Lumber and Hardware pitched in building supplies at a reduced cost.

Community gardens face an uphill battle here, as these plots of communally-tended veggies tend to be more amenable to high-density urban areas (think Manhattan) rather than suburban Chico.

But that doesn't necessarily mean we should give up on the concept. There are plenty of apartment complexes in Chico whose residents might be interested in having a community garden within walking distance.

Or, we can simply change the model of what a we imagine a community garden to be, as with the Dorothy F. Johnson Center.