 Thursday evening the three hosted a public meeting at the Lincoln
Woman's Club Building to share their ideas and seek public opinion
on developing two community gardens.
Currently the group has secured locations at 417 N. Madison and
at the Logan County Housing Authority offices on North College.
Adjacent to their office building, the housing authority has a
large green space they are lending to the garden project, and the
Madison location is property owned by Donald Hatfield.
At the beginning of the meeting, Smith spoke about the objectives
of a community garden. She said the goals were to bring community
members together for social purposes, make use of neglected and
vacant lots, create opportunities for small-scale business, offer
space for people to garden, and create opportunities for educational
experiences for local citizens.
The concept behind the gardens is that a large lot will be
divided into smaller 12-by-12-foot squares. Families, individuals,
community groups, clubs, churches -- anyone who is interested in
gardening -- can rent a space and raise a garden.
The food can be for personal use, or it can be donated as fresh
produce to local food pantries.
Smith said the group has been seeking support for the project and
has gotten some wonderful responses.
Steve Allen of the housing authority is not only lending space to
the project; he has offered to purchase materials needed to install
a water hydrant, volunteered garage space for tools and said he
would help watch over the property to assure it was not vandalized.
Illinois American Water has made a monetary donation and also
offered a donation of rain barrels for both garden plots.
The city of Lincoln will provide the labor for installing the
hydrants at the two gardens, and representatives from Community
Action, the Logan County Department of Public Health and Habitat for
Humanity have pledged donations of their time to the project.
Lebegue, building and safety officer for the city, is the one who
came up with the idea of community gardens in Lincoln. He said it
came from seeing a garden last summer that a group of neighbors were
working on together.
In spending many hours on city streets looking at properties for
various reasons, Lebegue said he sees rundown properties and unkempt
vacant lots that bring down the entire neighborhood.
He hopes that by turning derelict properties and vacant lots into
something green, growing and useful, it will help to restore a sense
of pride in the neighborhood and lead to better-kept properties.
When asked what could be grown in the gardens, the answer was
"whatever you wish, as long as it's legal."
The group has put together a set of rules or guidelines for
would-be gardeners, including: no illegal activities. Drinking,
smoking and chewing tobacco will be prohibited in the garden area,
and children under a certain age must not be in the garden
unattended.
Lebegue said those who wish to grow flowers, in particular,
should let organizers know before they get their plot assignment. He
noted that the gardens will improve the streetscape on their own,
but having flower gardens closest to roadways would be very
desirable.
Other topics that came up for discussion included the cost of the
plot. The group began with a suggested rent of $5. However, some in
the audience thought that considering what is being provided, the
plots would still be a value at twice that price.
They also talked about organic gardening. Lebegue said that in
town, with neighbors living around the plots, it would be pretty
difficult to have gardens that are pesticide-free, because the group
can't tell plot neighbors they aren't allowed to use chemicals in
their own lawns.
The group also wants to establish compost piles at the gardens
but specified the piles would have to be for garden waste only at
the specific garden.
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Smith spoke about the need for garden mentors. She said some of
the younger generations don't know a great deal about gardening, but
they are interested in learning. The group will need volunteer
mentors who are willing to help those less knowledgeable.
As an example, she said she had been out knocking on doors
talking to people and met a young person who was very excited about
the prospects: "She told me, 'I have seeds. I just don't know what
to do with them.'"
During the course of the evening, out of the group of about 20 in
attendance, several offered help. Dan Meyer has a garden tractor
with a pull-behind tiller and volunteered to till the lots, and Dan
Gosda said he could provide materials and help with compost piles.
Rebecca Van Nydeggen of the Logan County Salvation Army said
garden work would qualify as court-ordered community service. The
Salvation Army will assist in getting those people involved and will
provide supervision.
Cyndi Campbell of Community Action said there is green space that
could be made available at their offices on Fifth Street.
Speaking on money, Smith said the group is working with a zero
budget. They are relying on donations to do things like fencing. She
said the housing authority does have long-range plans to fence the
lot they are lending.
When asked if the rent money could be used for fencing, Vinyard
said the group is hoping to save that money for future investments,
and the amount collected would not come close to covering the cost
of fencing.
The funds collected will be under the guardianship of the city of
Lincoln. The group clarified by saying that the city of Lincoln has
agreed to oversee the cash account, but it will not be part of the
city budget and will not be used for city purposes.
As the meeting began to wind down, the group talked about the
gardens becoming a source of pride and a motivation to neighboring
residents to work harder to make their homes and lawns more
presentable.
"I'm looking for a spillover effect," Lebegue said. "My secondary
goal is: Let's address this one lot so we don't have to deal with
it.
"But I have a bigger plan involved, in cleaning up the whole
neighborhood, cleaning up the yards, getting other things planted,
maybe getting them some perennials they can put on their property
and make the whole street look a whole lot different in a relatively
quick period of time.
"I want the people to take on a pride in their neighborhood. I
think sometimes people lose that perspective. Times are hard right
now, and we need to look for things that make people feel good.
Sometimes it doesn't take a whole lot to do that."
Toni Reifsteck, director of Lincoln's Habitat for Humanity, said
it does work. When Habitat builds a new home in a community, they
give out flower seeds in the neighborhood. She said many are happy
to have them and do plant them, and there is pride that comes from
it.
Marsha Greenslate of the Lincoln Park District added that it can
also be contagious. When one neighbor sees another doing something
to make their home better, they want to act as well.
The group currently has a survey for people interested. It can be
obtained from the building and safety office in City Hall.
Anyone who has questions about the project can also visit City
Hall and speak with Lebegue or Vinyard.
[By NILA SMITH]
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