Tag: community garden

Wiest: It takes a village to support a community garden

AUGUST 15, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY BETTY WIEST

When was the last time you sunk your teeth into a luscious red, juicy tomato?

Our identity is all displayed on our New Jersey license plate: “Garden State.” From every corner of the state, agriculture is still alive. People are growing tomatoes, corn, peaches, apples, grapes and more on extensive farm fields to small homeowner plots and in quite a number of municipalities’ community gardens.

New Jersey has marketed “Jersey Fresh” since 1984 in a continuing effort to advertise, promote and identify a quality-grading program to help farmers inform consumers about the availability and variety of fruits and vegetables grown in our state. New Jersey farmers grow more than 100 different varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs. It turns out that we are also ranked nationally in the top 10 as producer of blueberries, peaches, bell peppers, squash, tomatoes and cranberries.

The nickname “Garden State” goes back to 1876 when Abraham Browning, “an attorney, politician, and the owner of Cherry Hill Farm (hence Cherry Hill) coined the term, comparing New Jersey, two-thirds of which was rolling farmland, to a big barrel, open on both ends, from which Pennsylvanians and New Yorkers gobbled up the state’s agricultural bounty. The nickname was cemented in 1954 despite Governor Robert Meyner’s veto saying, ‘I do not believe that the average New Jersey citizen regards his state as more peculiarly identifiable with gardening or farming than any of its other industries or occupations.'” Despite being one of the most densely populated states, farming is ranked third behind pharmaceuticals and tourism, generating $65 billion a year.

Well, that’s fine for all the big farms in the state, but what about the little guy — the homeowner who knows the power of digging in the dirt, growing vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers for his own interest or for friends.

There is a national organization called the American Community Gardening Association whose mission is to “build community by increasing and enhancing community gardening and greening across the United States and Canada.” It recognizes that community greening in urban and rural communities enhances the quality of life. It is a tremendous resource for support.

My yard does not lend itself to vegetable gardening; the backyard is far too shady. Only recently the front yard has become the only sunny spot and I have now incorporated lots of sun-loving perennials I could previously only enjoy from afar.

For people who live in Ridgewood, you should know that we have a community garden and it is located in Maple Park East just off Meadowbrook Road and the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook. It is overseen by the Village’s Parks and Recreation Department. Plots are “rented” for the growing season for $50 for a 10-foot-by-12-foot space.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/recreation/it-takes-a-village-to-support-a-community-garden-1.1067844#sthash.6rhQbU3Q.dpuf