FAIRFIELD – Construction on a community garden is underway in Fairfield.

The garden is located on a large patch of grassland at O.B. Nelson Park where the outdoor pool once sat before it was torn down a decade ago. In late September, a group of volunteers gathered at the site to install a fence around the area that next year will host raised garden beds.

The Sustainable Living Coalition is the fiscal sponsor of this project, and its board is providing leadership. The Fairfield Volunteer Center and Habitat for Humanity ReStore have played critical roles as well, contributing labor and materials.

Fairfield Mayor Connie Boyer was a key player in getting the project off the ground, too, and helping to secure its location in O.B. Nelson Park. The city is donating use of the land to the community garden, and will install a water line to the garden. It will also provide wood mulch for the pathways and around the perimeter of the garden.

Bob Ferguson, formerly the executive director of SLC, started a fundraiser for the garden on Facebook, which has raised over $2,000, and will need $3,000 to $4,000 more before the garden begins hosting plants next spring. Shanaz Kreider, who runs Habitat ReStore and is a member of the Fairfield Volunteer Center, said this will be a public garden open to anyone who joins the Fairfield Garden Club, which requires a small membership fee.

The idea for a community garden was hatched by Fairfield Volunteer Center member Barbara Rainbow shortly after she joined the club. Rainbow helped start the community garden in Mt. Pleasant a few years ago, and wanted to see the same thing in Fairfield.

“It was underused, and then we started growing things,” Rainbow said about the Mt. Pleasant Community Garden. “There were extra beds, so we grew plants and we harvested them and gave to their food pantry for families in need. We also taught low-income people how they could grow things at the community garden.”

Rainbow said she checked out what Iowa City was doing for community gardens, and discovered it has four of them, on land owned by its park and recreation department. She said Iowa City provided a useful model for Fairfield to follow.

Rainbow has assumed the role of project manager of the Fairfield Community Garden. She said that, if Fairfield’s garden becomes popular and they need to expand it, it will be easy to remove one wall of fencing and simply extend the garden to the south.

The plan for the community garden is to have 32 plots on raised beds, which can be reserved online by going to https://www.fairfield-community-garden.org/. Patrons of the garden must sign an agreement pledging to use sustainable practices such as no herbicides and pesticides.

Faith Reeves of the Sustainable Living Coalition said patrons will not be required to grow “organic” seeds or plants per se since the soil is not certified organic, but the garden is geared toward soil- and health-promoting practices. Reeves said patrons must keep in mind that the plot they are leasing is not theirs forever, so they must be mindful about the quality of soil they leave behind.

“Whatever you do to it will leave residuals,” she said.

Reeves said the community garden’s patrons will get to take advantage of the buying club, which purchases supplies in bulk so the per unit price is much cheaper for members.

Rainbow said that, once this initial phase of the community garden is up and running, she would like to begin “phase II” which will involve building a tool shed, compost bin and garden hoses.

The community garden would not be possible without the support of local businesses such as Hickenbottom, Inc., Everybody's Whole Foods, Iowa State Bank, Community 1st Credit Union, Libertyville Savings Bank and Miller Realty.

To learn more about the Fairfield Community Garden, visit its website at

https://www.fairfield-community-garden.org/, check it out on Facebook under “Fairfield Iowa Community Garden” or Instagram at “fairfieldiowacommunitygarden,” or send an email to FairfieldIowaCommunityGarden@gmail.com.