LA PORTE, Ind. — William Wood, 63, has plans to grow tomatoes in a community garden being developed next to his residence in La Porte’s downtown area; he’s also giving thought to planting green beans. His neighbor, Mike Pastoreli, 56, might try his hand at raising tomatoes to use in making his much-loved pasta sauce.
Residents close to where the garden is going up at Jefferson Avenue and Jackson Street welcome having a place to grow fresh produce – but wonder if good intentions will be spoiled by vandalism and other undesirable activity in their crime-plagued urban neighborhood in the northwestern part of the state.
"It’s a nice thought and I would like to see the people use it," said Cash Williams, 55, of the 300 block of Jefferson.
The community garden being developed in La Porte is the latest of many that have sprung up across the state in cities like Indianapolis, Lafayette and Greenfield. Indiana Farm Bureau spokesman Andy Dietrick said many of the gardens are put in urban areas as part of a city’s neighborhood redevelopment strategy, by providing something attractive that could spur other forms of new economic growth.
Another purpose is to provide areas to grow vegetables for people whose residential lots are too small to have their own garden. The garden in La Porte is going in for much of the same reasons at a now former parking lot the city donated to the cause, spearheaded by the United Way of LaPorte County.
The asphalt, except for a small strip to be used for parking by people working or harvesting from the garden, was taken out last week. The 2,500 square feet of ground was also tilled and should be receiving fresh loads of black dirt any day now to provide a rich cover of top soil, said Dave Sisk, the United Way of LaPorte County’s manager of Community Engagement.
A water spigot for use by the community growing produce in the garden was just put in last week by the city.
Sisk said another mission of the community garden is to provide another source of food and nutrition to a neighborhood where many people rely on food pantries to have enough to eat. Cleaning up a blighted neighborhood at a spot where citizens reported seeing drug dealing, gang fights and prostitution is another goal.
Programs are planned at the garden, on topics including how to raise crops, preparing nutritious and tasty meals with fresh produce and showing children that food doesn’t wind up on store shelves by magic. Dietrick said another benefit of community gardens is growers finding out for themselves the amount of work involved in raising produce they normally would buy in a supermarket.
He said the drought of 2012 provided a good lesson for users of community gardens on just how difficult growing quality produce can be. "I think they appreciate more what’s available to them in the stores," said Dietrick.
Sisk said professional growers volunteering their services will be in charge of raising the crops the first year, but residents of the neighborhood and other areas will be allowed right away to pick the vegetables. "We welcome that opportunity for folks to see it, to feel it, to touch it and to live it," he said.
He explained the type of vegetables to be grown and the size of plot each member of the neighborhood will be assigned are among the details still being decided. Also undecided is whether it’s too late in the growing season to go ahead and plant some vegetables this year.
Sisk said there will be no security measures to protect the garden, because of a belief that residents will have enough sense of ownership to take care of and watch over the it themselves.
Lydia Pastoreli said she and many of her neighbors will appreciate the garden, but she’s not so sure about others, given the type of behavior that has often drawn responses from police to that section of the city over the years. "This isn’t the best area," she added.
Among the other sponsors of the garden is I-U Health La Porte Hospital, which contributed $6,600 toward the cost of removing the asphalt from the parking lot. "We are pleased to be able to support this initiative that is directly related to helping people in our own community make healthier food choices," said Stacey Kellogg, a hospital spokesperson.
Dietrick said community gardens are a growing trend, really taking off in Indiana 3-5 years ago. He pointed to one garden at a newly developed housing complex on the west side of Indianapolis where the ground is divided into plots for each of the tenants to grow their own produce.
"They’re all over the place," he said.
