DIY Del Ray: A Community Garden with Room to Grow

I joined the GW Community Garden last spring on the suggestion of a master gardener friend in town. It’s called the GW Community Garden because it’s located at the , although you’d never know from the name. The garden is tucked back between buildings and practically requires a GPS device to locate. But the sun and rain have no issue with the hidden location and the garden thrives.

I had been on a wait list for a garden plot at a rec center and had heard it may be years before I’d get one. The community garden was happy to let me join right away. Plus, I could work with friendly neighbors, some new to gardening, some very experienced, and some even certified master gardeners. About 25 novice and experienced gardeners alike participate, and the master gardeners freely impart mounds of advice and wisdom.

This is my second year of membership and I’m happy as ever to take part. I mean, how can I not be elated to take home a weekly share of a variety of peppers, tomatoes, carrots, eggplant and zucchini? 

The community garden takes up a spacious one-third of an acre and in its third year of production, promises to produce as glorious a bounty as it has the past two years.

The other day, the youngest members donned their child-sized garden gloves and planted tomato starts, harvested strawberries, picked lettuce leaves and helped lay newspaper and mulch between the raised beds.

If you’d like to join the community garden for next year (starting with planning in the late winter 2013), you are more than welcome. In the fall, send an email to gwcommunitygarden [at] gmail.com. For more information about the garden, including more details on how it came to be, recipes, and week-by-week progress reports, see the group's garden blog.

For more posts about gardening and small-space living, visit http://www.diydelray.com.