Washington Community Garden group trying again

WASHINGTON — A group of community members is once more hoping to start a community garden on Boot Hill, between Washington High School and the Woodlawn Cemetery. Previous plans pitched for the effort in 2023 were praised for their potential to boost food security and offer educational opportunities, but ultimately failed to materialize.

The collection of educators and environmental professionals has since named itself PLANT Washington, an acronym for “People Learning And Nurturing Together.”

As of mid-March, members said they were on the verge of establishing a nonprofit for the project, and were ready to sign an agreement with the city of Washington to use the municipally owned land.

“This is kind of a challenging thing, filling out all of this paperwork,” Arborist and PLANT Committee Member Andy Dahl said at a city council meeting March 19. “We wanted to make sure everything was up to snuff with it. So we have that all filled out … it’s almost done.”

Dahl said the group expected a wait of two to six more weeks for federal recognition of its 501(c)(3) status, and expected to get planting this spring. The designation is a requirement of PLANT’s license agreement with the city.

City council members said they expected to approve the agreement at their next meeting on April 2, assuming PLANT’s members can provide proof of insurance coverage by then.

“It will be good city participation with ground that we currently do not use,” Council Member Elaine Moore said. “It’s an area with a lot of sewage infrastructure, it’s not going to be able to be used much, other than for something of that nature.”

Dahl said that left plenty of time to arrange planting for the garden, in a state where the latest average frost date is May 10, according to conventional wisdom.

A map of PLANT’s proposal presented to city council members includes an orchard of 24 trees donated by the Washington Tree Committee, plus 12 garden beds, each measuring 10’ x 20’ that will eventually become wooden raised beds, as the group acquires funding.

Organizers said community members could sign up for their own plot of the garden each year. A draft, two-page contract to do so includes several stipulations; Users would pay a fee of $20 or $40 for a 10’ x 10’ or 10’ x 20’ plot, respectively, be required to tend to their area at least once every three weeks, and not to use pesticides or fertilizers in the garden.

It does not allow non-participants to use the garden, or for contract holders to harvest food from plots they don’t manage.

Group Member and Washington County Environmental Health Specialist Cindy Rico Chavez said the soon-to-be nonprofit was excited to get its effort off the ground.

“PLANT’s mission is to build community through food, conversation and learning,” she said. “So some of our top priorities include building and maintaining a community garden, allowing space for people to grow nutritious food.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com