Community garden offers place to share food, information
nick katz nkatz@pioneerlocal.com July 18, 2011 11:32AM
Michael Waldman shows off his green and wax beans from his plot in the Northbrook Community Garden. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: January 23, 2012 2:43AM
Brian Bruce broke open a bulb of garlic, still crusted with dirt from his plot in the Northbrook Community Garden, and inhaled the heady perfume.
“I love garlic,” he said.
Bruce, co-founder and garden coordinator of the non-profit that operates two community gardens, was busy picking sugar snap peas, stopping now and then to pop one in his mouth.
The gardens give residents who may not have any yard, or at least not one good for gardening, a place to find out just how green their thumbs are. They can rent out plots or parts of plots in the garden for the season.
Most of them, Bruce said, opt for vegetables, though a few of the plots also host some flowers.
A walk through the garden reveals a variety of lettuces, beets, herbs, some Brussels sprouts, okra and tomatoes - lots and lots of tomatoes.
“We’re going to have a bumper crop of tomatoes,” said Jeremy Reynolds, chairman of the Northbrook Environmental Quality Commission and an avid gardener.
Northbrook Community Garden, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 at the request of Northbrook officials so that the village and corporation could enter into an agreement for use of village property.
The first garden, near the Northbrook Village Hall, was opened in 2009. The second also on village land, is behind the Crestwood Place Senior Living Facility on Waukegan Road.
Bruce said the idea for the garden came to him when he was a member of the Environmental Quality Commission.
Reynolds said the community gardens were created as organic gardens. People who rent spaces there are not allowed to use pesticides, chemical fertilizers and similar products.
Reynolds said the garden has had organic fertilizer donated for use by gardeners and a local boy scout is building a composting structure as his Eagle Scout project.
Although nobody really polices the garden to enforce the organic only policy, Reynolds said nobody has ever been caught using chemicals.
“It’s on our honor. You hope people don’t sneak in at night with Miracle Grow,” Reynolds said as he tended to some tomato plants. “It’s a pretty important point for me.”
Bruce said full plots go for $50 a season, though most new gardeners are only allowed to rent half of one. That allows more people to enjoy the gardens, and also gives both the novice gardener and the corporation a chance to see if the person will stick with it.
“We like to see if they last,” Bruce said.
Even with two gardens and people sharing plots, there is often a waiting list and the corporation is trying to find a location for another garden.
Bruce said the garden has benefitted from donations of plants and money from organizations including the Northbrook Civic Foundation, the Buehler Family Foundation and Northbrook Woman’s Club.
Besides providing a place to garden, Reynolds said the community garden is a great place for a newbie to learn. Those with more experience are always willing to share and information and offer advice.
“It’s a wealth of information,” he said. “”People are really happy to share their knowledge.
Bruce said that the location behind the senior citizen apartments is ideal for developing a handicapped accessible “enabling garden.” Space has been set aside and the community garden has been working with the Northbrook Park District to improve a paved path to make the garden accessible to people in wheelchairs or with other physical limitations.
Bruce said there are already five people who live in the apartments interested in gardening once the facility is completed, possible this summer.
“One of them is an 84-year-old man from Texas,” Bruce said. “He was so happy to hear he could get a garden plot.”
The garden itself with have raised beds and other accommodations, Bruce said.
The garden also has an area set aside to grow food that will be donated to the Northfield Township Food Pantry.
Besides the food the garden provides for members, Bruce said the project has really brought together Northbrook residents who share a love of gardening.
“Everyone kind of pulls together,” he said. “There’s a lot of community spirit in it.”
For more information on the Northbrook Community Garden call Bruce at 847-498-5008.
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