- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
New Middletown community garden project proposed
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Middletown residents who want to grow their own vegetables but lack the land are being offered the chance to participate in a new community garden project.
Calpine is proposing to host a community garden on a lot next to its visitor center, located on Central Park Road, according to a presentation made at the Middletown Area Town Hall meeting on Thursday evening.
Danielle Matthews Seperas, manager of Calpine's Government and Community Affairs division, briefly outlined the plan.
She said Calpine owns the empty lot next to the visitor center. “I've always envisioned some kind of community project there. There's been ideas but nothing's ever really come together.”
However, when North Coast Opportunities reached out and suggested the possibility of a community garden in that area, Seperas said she thought it was a great idea.
“It just seems like a really great fit,” said Seperas.
She added that it won't be the Calpine community garden, it will be the Middletown community garden. “So before we move forward we would want complete community buy-in from everyone.”
Seperas then introduced Ava Ryan, Lake County Garden Project coordinator for North Coast Opportunities.
Ryan explained that the gardens project is one of North Coast Opportunities' community wellness projects, focusing on food, nutrition and food access.
North Coast Opportunities launched The Gardens Project in Mendocino County in 2007, and since that time has established 38 community gardens in Lake's neighboring county to the west, with most of those gardens located in Ukiah, Ryan said.
She said some of those gardens are quite big – up to 40 family plots – and are producing many tons of food annually.
“We're feeding a lot of families and that's really our mission with these community gardens,” Ryan said, adding that the gardens create access for those people who don't have land.
Ryan said the program goal is to help provide access to food, and alleviate poverty and food insecurity.
In November, North Coast Opportunities received a three-year US Department of Agriculture Community Food Project grant to expand The Gardens Project into Lake County, she said.
With that grant in hand, Ryan said she has been actively looking for properties and communities that want the gardens, which she will help build and facilitate.
Ryan said a key and core philosophy of the program is community ownership. “They're not my gardens at the end of the day,” but rather belong to the community members.
North Coast Opportunities has money for infrastructure, including fencing, trenching, installing water lines for irrigation, and building raised beds, and they get donations of compost and seeds, she said.
She said a group has been started to support the garden at Calpine, they are doing outreach and have had two meetings so far, with interest from the community.
Ryan said the grant was written and awarded since last year's wildland fires that devastated parts of Lake County, including the Middletown area.
“Since the fires happened we really wanted to move into this area when Middletown residents are ready, because I think that gardens are healing spaces as well as food production spaces,” she said.
The gardens are places not just for physical and nutritional health but mental health, Ryan said, adding she felt it would be great to have a beautiful garden located along the highway.
On Thursday afternoon a 100-foot by 100-foot area was staked out for the garden in the middle of the lot, Ryan said. There are plans for a mix of raised and in-ground beds of different sizes.
She said the program likes to create leadership teams in the gardens so there is a resource in the community from which to draw. There also will be leadership training, contracts for use and the establishment of laws for the garden.
Those rules include opening hours and keeping gardens locked, as Ryan acknowledged that thefts have occurred.
She said the program charges a nominal fee of about $20 to $40 per year per plot, which goes into a pool fund for events, tools, waters or other needs.
“Ultimately, we want all the gardens to be self-sustaining,” and for the most part, they all are, said Ryan, explaining that it is wonderful to watch people working together.
Ryan noted during the discussion that she's also working to put a community garden in at Highlands Senior Center in Clearlake, where a work party took place on Saturday.
When asked how long Calpine has agreed to allow the community garden to be located on its property, Seperas said that detail hasn't yet been worked out, as they first wanted to make sure the garden was wanted.
Another key question related to water supply, with Ryan explaining that how water will be paid for and supplied is still being worked out.
When an audience member asked if Callayomi County Water District had been asked about helping with water supply, a water district board member who was in the audience replied that, following the Valley fire, the district had lost 40 percent of its income, so it would be difficult for the district to give away any water.
Anyone interested in participating in the garden program or wanting more information is encouraged to contact Ryan via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 707-994-4647, Extension 131.
The Gardens Project can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gardensproject/ or at www.gardensproject.org .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.