New circle garden provides community interaction, leisure

By Jennie Olson - Sun Newspapers

Published: Wednesday, October 13, 2010 3:01 PM CDT

Apple Valley residents who live in multi-housing units or homes with yards that are not suitable for agriculture will soon have an outlet for their gardening hobbies. A new community garden is being created at the Apple Valley School of Environmental Studies (SES) and will be ready next spring.

Volunteers will be at the community garden from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday to prepare the soil for the spring. They will be creating a mulch of organic matter on the garden bed in addition to installing fencing. The volunteers, called Growing Community, partner periodically with SES to help with labor and fundraising.

The garden is open to the community and is intended to be a cross-cultural, intergenerational activity. Approximately 25-30 plots will be available for rent. The cost has yet to be determined.

The Apple Valley community garden is different than other plots in that it's formed in a circle rather than a traditional grid.

“We're finding that the circle garden minimizes the number of paths, which then optimizes the growing space available,” Pat Schoenecker, managing director of The Partnership Garden, said. “We can also have gardeners face each other, which forms a sense of community in the garden.”

Schoenecker said that many residents have started buying and growing local food since it doesn't have to travel thousands of miles and is therefore generally healthier. She also mentioned that with so many different cultures, people could grow food that is appropriate to their lifestyle and heritage.

“Generally, people are really looking for a place to garden,” Schoenecker said. “It's great exercise, great community building, great food, and there's just a huge demand for gardens throughout the metro area.”

SES has been open to high school juniors and seniors in District 196 for 15 years and focuses on environmental sciences. It's located at 12155 Johnny Cake Ridge Road.

http://www.mnsun.com/articles/2010/10/13/sota_pop/yard_and_garden/articles/999_avgarden.txt