Plans Underway for Kinnelon's First Community Garden

Picture a place where for a monthly membership fee you can pack your gardening tools and plant whatever you choose in a plot of soil next to your friends. This may be something you did as a child in school, but one organization is hoping to be able to provide a community garden to residents of as early as this spring.

Kinnelon Community Gardens (KCG) was formed this year and has been bringing educational programs, such as presentations about and , to the But one of the biggest projects of KCG is plans for a resident-run garden filled with fruits, vegetables and flowers.

"What we kind of envision this thing to be is basically a new space for recreation here in Kinnelon," said Steven Roberts, marketing director for KCG.

Roberts said KCG is hoping to start up Kinnelon's first form of Community Supported Agriculture.

"People can come in and purchase a membership for the plot and kind of garden whatever they want to garden," he said.

Roberts said because of the soil content in many of the parcels of land the group is considering, KCG would likely build the garden to be made up of 10 x 10 wooden boxes filled with organic soil. Members would pay monthly to plant in and use the boxes.

Recently, KCG submitted a business plan and proposal to Kinnelon's Open Space Advisory Committee.

"We are looking for money from the Open Space Commitee. They're the ones who are really going to dictate where this community garden would go once it's up and running," Roberts said.

Roberts said he was not able to disclose which parcel the group has in mind, but said there are several available parcels to be considered if this one does not work out.

"We're still in the grassroots of all this," he said.

At Thursday's Kinnelon Council meeting, Councilman Stephen Cobell, the liaison to the Open Space Committee, spoke about the project with the council.

"The concept is a true community center," Cobell said.

Cobell said if the project comes to fruition, KCG would need some type of irrigation system included in the plans to make it easier to water the garden.

Councilman Ron Mondello said he was informed by the committee that they expect the crops to potentially generate about $10,000 per year from the sales of what is grown.

While plans are being reviewed by the committee, Roberts said KCG is working on achieving non-profit status to help with funding the project.

"Once we become a non-profit, the major benefit is being able to deal with money in an effective way," Robert said. The group plans to apply for grant-funding and to be able to accept donations to help sustain the garden.