Maplewood Community Garden Breaks Ground on New Turf

Building on the success of last year, the Maplewood Community Garden — — has expanded to a new site behind the Maplewood Volunteer First Aid Squad building on Boyden Avenue.

There are 21 new plots with 25 families taking part in the garden's newest patch. The plots were built over the course of a two weekends starting on April 30. The work crews were made up of the gardeners receiving plots at the new site, as well as members from the original Town Hall site.

Their job was to build the raised beds and fill them with soil. Home Depot in Vauxhall donated the wood for the boxes and Maplewood Pizza, Auturo's and Village Trattoria donated the pizza to feed the crew. This past Saturday, the work continued with topping off the beds and constructing the deer fencing around the area. Even Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca came and helped out. 

The garden is being overseen by two master gardeners, Bill Burgermaster and Suzie Yamarone. The Rutgers University master gardener program requires all candidates to complete community service hours. Both Burgermaster and Yamarone have chosen to help the community garden's new site to get off the ground.

Burgermaster helped organize the fence construction. His SUV was like a magician's hat. Tools and supplies, in amounts that seemed to defy the amount of space, kept pouring out of the back of the vehicle. Everything needed to finish the project was there and ready.

The garden also benefited from other local concerns. ZO Landscaping gave a discount on the price of soil and free delivery. AAA Able Fencing donated pipes for the fencing.

Next up on the community garden's list?

A bigger garden at Montrose, the school district's alternative high school in South Orange. Montrose has a population of 50 at-risk students. About 12 of them have been involved in a small gardening program at the school. The purpose of the current garden is two fold: First is to show the students where food comes from; and, second, to explain how it impacts them on a physical and emotional level.

While master gardeners and two experienced gardeners will be available to offer guidance and suppirt to the Monstrose students, there is a need for summer supervision. The community garden is looking for four to six families to assist with caring for the garden over the summer when school is out. In return, those families would each get one four-by-twelve-foot plot. Produce from the garden would also be donated to the food pantry at St. Joseph's Church in Maplewood. Interested families can contact the organizers here.