San Marcos community garden creates a bountiful oasis By: Sarah Wilkins - For the North County Time, Escondido,CA,USA _http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/04/17/news/inland/40606205611.txt_ (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/04/17/news/inland/40606205611.txt) SAN MARCOS ---- The San Marcos community garden is open to anyone interested in making things grow.
For San Marcos sisters Jeanne Tillery and Sharon Smith, however, working the soil is a special labor of love honoring their late father, the garden's first caretaker, Jim Gaumitz, who died in 2003. "I can just feel his presence there," said Tillery, who maintains a flower plot in the community garden next to her sister's vegetable garden. "People miss him very much. There's no one else that can answer their questions like he could." The is now a sort of memorial to the lifelong gardener. Renamed the Jim Gaumitz Garden, it serves as a resource for community members to come together to socialize and learn. "The garden brings in folks with common interests and projects," said Bill Schramm, the director of the San Marcos Community Services Department, which oversees the garden. "You learn a lot with different people and different backgrounds enjoying their shared interest. The goal is for people to share the excitement of gardening." The garden, on a quiet hill at 1263 Fulton Road, is open to the public for nearly anything growers can imagine. Though fresh weeds occupy some of the spaces because of recent wet weather, herbs, roses, squash, tomatoes, daffodils and pumpkins will soon fill many of the 30 plots, creating a fragrant haven for butterflies and chirping birds. Plots are available to San Marcos residents 18 years or older for an annual $20 fee. An additional one-time fee of $20 is required for overall operational expenses, such as water fees. Eight plots are still available for purchase; all plots are 15 by 20 feet. The garden is overseen by an on-site resident. No commercial gardening is allowed, though users are permitted to share their harvests. "Gardeners can trade off," Schramm said. "If you do the labor, you get the fruit." Gardening tools and hoses are provided and users are encouraged to chip in with any extra equipment. Mulch is also provided. The garden is open seven days a week, and gardeners may come and go as needed. However, rules require users to maintain their spaces year-round ---- inactive plots are turned over to gardeners on a waiting list for open spaces. The garden began nearly 30 years ago, on the site of the current City Hall and library buildings. It was moved to Fulton Road in 1992 and now serves as a quiet oasis for people to come together, away from busier aspects of life. "It's very calm," Tillery said. "Sometimes I go there just to get away." For more information on the San Marcos community garden, call the San Marcos Community Services Department at (760) 744-9000. ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
