PORT ANGELES — Gardeners of all skill levels are sought to participate in Port Angeles’ newest community garden.
The Eleventh Street Community Garden at Wolverton Park is ready for planting, said Robin Gibson of Port Angeles Community Gardens.
The garden and neighborhood park is on 11th Street between A and B streets.
“We’ve got a lot more space to plant,” Gibson said.
“We’re looking for people to participate.”
While the garden is not yet finished, volunteers have completed enough work to allow gardeners to begin planting vegetables.
“We’ve got all kinds of things started in the garden already,” Gibson said.
Communal garden
Unlike the Fifth Street Community Garden at 328 E. Fifth St., the Eleventh Street Community Garden is communal, meaning its members work together to grow the chosen crops and share in the harvest.
The gardeners decide collectively what to plant and who will do what to care for the plants.
“We’re all working on the whole garden,” Gibson said.
Individual plots
The Fifth Street Community Garden has individual 9-foot-by-12-foot plots rented by each garden member.
Annual membership in the Eleventh Street Community Garden is $100 per family for the growing season.
The community garden model fosters teamwork and allows mentoring by experienced gardeners for those who are new to growing their own food, Port Angeles Community Gardens officials said in a news release.
“Many of our gardeners are inexperienced,” Gibson said in a telephone interview.
“We’re here to help them.”
Efforts to open a new garden on 11th Street began about three years ago, Gibson said.
“We’ve been working with city of Port Angeles because it’s on half of Wolverton Park,” she said.
Children’s garden
A children’s garden is being developed at the Eleventh Street Community Garden to encourage kids to learn to grow food and to support families gardening together.
“We have five families participating,” Gibson said.
“We’d love to have another 15 families.”
The young gardeners will receive instruction and mentoring from permaculturist and Master Gardener Hank Gibson and local farmer Jane Vanderhoof.
Membership applications for the Eleventh Street Community Garden are available on the Port Angeles Community Gardens website, www.pacommunitygardens.org.
For more information on joining the garden, phone Robin Gibson at 360-460-1748 or Vanderhoof at 360-808-3909.
Volunteers are still needed to finish building the garden.
Needed work includes preparation of garden beds, installation of drip irrigation systems, building compost bins and other upcoming projects.
To volunteer, phone Hank Gibson at 360-460-1747.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
