$35K Grant to Help Create Solar Energy at Morristown's Community Garden

The Early Street Garden organized by Grow It Green Morristown has done nothing less than help residents grow their own produce and bring the community together.

Now, thanks to Sustainable Jersey, it’s going to get that much better.

The town of Morristown has been awarded a $35,000 grant to help bring solar panels and energy to the Early Street Garden to build a solar-powered classroom pavilion, which will be a focal point of the area’s rebuilding effort.

The energy created by the solar panels on the pavilion will provide energy for the garden’s uses, like running a pump for a cistern, and also providing power outlets for movie nights, bands, and outdoor classes. A rain catchment system will provide the majority of water needed for gardening, according to a press release from the office of Mayor Tim Dougherty.

“Morristown is thrilled to receive this funding for the solar-powered pavilion at the Early Street Community Garden,” said Dougherty in a statement. “I applaud Grow It Green for their tireless efforts – the Early Street Community Garden has become a place where people reconnect both with nature and with each other. It has been wonderful to see a group of volunteers come together and transform an abandoned lot into a permanently preserved open space that will forever serve the people of Morristown. This new solar powered pavilion will now elevate an already unique and special place into a model of sustainability for community gardens across the country.”

The garden was created in 2009 and currently serves more than 50 families with plots where residents can grow their own produce.

“The new solar powered pavilion marks a new phase of the Garden’s development by enabling new programming opportunities while also serving as a highly visible model of green technology,” said Grow It Green Morristown’s Executive Director Abby Gallo in a statement.

Find out more about the garden here.