Community garden is building momentum

Gardeners and anyone in the Lakeside and Somers area aspiring for a green thumb could soon have a place to cultivate flowers, crops and a stronger community bond.

The Lakeside Baptist Church approved the use of a 50-by-100-foot piece of their land in the northeast corner for the garden in February. However, funding, building materials, and volunteers are still needed.

“We’re at a state where we’ll shoot for the stars and maybe we’ll hit the moon,” Dan Benesch, project manager, said. “We’ll probably require the intervention of a well established community service organization to play a key role in implementation. We’ll go as far as we can go and see what happens.”

The Lakeside/Somers Community Garden will have 40 4-by-8 raised beds, four wheelchair accessible raised beds, three plotting tables, three water tanks, two water faucets, two park benches and two vehicle gates.

The garden will also have an 18-by-20 plot for raising vegetables to donate to the Food Bank. The entire garden will be fenced-in to prevent damage from wildlife and will be served with an underground water line.

If everything goes according to plan, construction of the garden could begin as early as next month.

According to Benesch, the garden is a little behind schedule due to lack of infrastructure as everyone involved has other responsibilities. He said it is their intention to have an organization take over and make the garden their own.

“We don’t need this to be our baby,” Benesch said. “We would like this to become an event that is shepherded by the sort of service organizations out there. The Baptist church offered their land but want to see the community get involved rather than be a Baptist church project.”

So far, volunteers and donations from the Lakeside Baptist Church, the Lakeside Community Development Foundation, Lakeside Blessings Exchange, Youth With A Mission, and residents of the community have brought together $500 toward the project. However, Benesch estimates they have about $2,500 left to go.

“It would be inappropriate to have a dozen people each pull out $200 apiece to create it,” Benesch said. “That’s not what we’re trying to accomplish. We’re trying to accomplish a community gathering and a community identity, and an asset the entire neighborhood can take pride in.”

The Lakeside Community Development Foundation is helping the garden with 501-C3 requirements. The only fee users will have to pay $25 per plot each year to cover maintenance and water.

Several of the plots will be set aside for youth groups such as the scouts, 4-H, and YWAM students. Eventually the garden will play host to parties for plant and seed swaps and classes with master gardeners.

Currently, the garden is looking for material or monetary donations. Old wood boards from porches such as 2-by-8s and 2-by-10s are particularly good for building garden beds, Benesch said.

The next community garden meeting will be on April 21 at 2:30 p.m. at the proposed garden’s location near the Baptist Church, 201 Bens Lane, Lakeside. Questions about the garden and how to get involved will be addressed.

Following the meeting, there will be a gardening tool, plant and seed swap.

For more information about volunteering or reserving a plot, call Dan Benesch at 871-5548. For more information about the garden visit their Facebook page by searching for “Lakeside Community Garden.”