Want to Plant in Rochester Community Garden? Here's How

The is open for business.

Although there's still work to be done on the site, applications are being accepted from residents wanting to lease one of 42 plots in the garden, which will be cultivated on a 70-by-100-foot area of near downtown Rochester. Plots are $30 for the growing season.

If you are chosen to lease a 4-by-8-foot plot for the season, you'll need to have it cultivated and planted by June 5.

The garden came to life through Rochester's City Beautiful Commission, which approved the planting guidelines and schedule last week. will manage the garden, which will be free of pesticides. 

Among other guidelines, gardeners must agree to:

• Not leave the plot unused for three weeks or longer during the growing season (June through October).
• Keep the plot, path and surrounding area clean and keep weeds from growing taller than 3 inches.
• Not plant anything illegal, including medical marijuana.
• Not compost on site.
• Not bring a pet into the fenced perimeter of the garden.
• Not use herbicides, insecticides or commercial inorganic fertilizer, nor use any genetically modified seeds.
• Clean the garden plot of debris and prepare it for winter by Nov. 5.

Gardeners will be encouraged to dedicate part of their garden to the community food bank or help maintain the food bank's part of the garden.

Garden plots will be assigned by a random lottery, which will take place April 30. Rochester residents will be considered before outside residents.

At its most recent meeting, the commission decided against a bee apiary on site; though bees are beneficial to a garden environment, nearby neighbors voiced concerns about problems with backyard bees.

Also, Director of Public Works Bill Bohlen is exploring the possibility of attaching a surveillance-style camera to a pole on the garden grounds so gardeners can monitor their plots.

A complete list of guidelines for the community garden, along with an application, are attached to this story.