HAWTHORNE — Peggy Weber knelt over her garden bed and, with a handful of frilly greens and a short jerk of her wrist, plucked a carrot out of the ground.
The vegetable, she said, was fated for her stewpot.
On the opposite side of the enclosure, Deidre Caso observed a different variety of edible root. Her beets were planted there the day before and not yet ready to take in.
Indeed, this season has yielded another abundant crop for two dozen caretakers at the Hawthorne Community Garden , which has become so popular that residents enter a lottery to rent its sought-after plots.
Rayna Laiosa, the chairwoman of the Environmental Commission , which manages the garden, said three 4-foot-by-8-foot raised plots will be open next season. She is already preparing to ask the current gardeners if they intend to return.
On Sunday afternoon, the commission held a brief event to announce its expansion for the second time in two years. Laiosa thanked local Boy Scouts and others who pitched in to help with those projects. Now with 24 plots, she said, the space is as big as it can possibly get — there is no room to stretch it farther.
“I’m just happy that we have this place for people to come,” said Laiosa, who also represents the 2nd Ward on the Borough Council.
Mayor John Lane offered a few words of moral support. “Keep up the good work, gardeners,” he said.
This season marked the 11th year for the garden, which is adjacent to the headquarters of the volunteer ambulance corps on Goffle Road. Its space is limited because the property is shared by a 9/11 monument and a wellhead for the municipal water supply.
Over the years, Laiosa said, the gardeners donated 365 pounds of fruits and vegetables to the borough food pantry.
Weber is among five original caretakers who have had their same plots for more than a decade. This season, the experienced gardener planted Jerusalem artichokes — also known as sunchokes. They are another type of root vegetable, featuring a towering stem and yellow flowers.
“It just grew into a monster,” Weber said of the tubers, which she will dig up after the first frost. “I’m absolutely amazed at how tall it got.”
Caso, who has maintained a plot for the past seven seasons, said the garden provided an opportunity that she did not have at home. She lives in an apartment.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Hawthorne settles with maker of firefighting foam in water contamination case
Caso said she also appreciates the sense of togetherness that it introduced to her life. “I watch his garden when he goes fishing,” she said, pointing to a nearby plot, and “I’ve taken care of Jack’s garden while he’s gone. We all like getting dirty.”
The commission received $3,500 in grants from City Green , a Clifton-based nonprofit, to pay for the 6-foot fence around the enclosure and a vertical tool shed. Some of the funding went toward the cost of materials to assemble the garden beds, which are made out of composite plastic.
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: devencentis@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: More than vegetables grow in this Passaic community garden. Its gardeners are multiplying
Local News
Comments / 0