In an effort to avoid tomato blight, this year members can plant tomatoes only if they come from the greenhouse of member Robert Lak.
A section of the South Hadley Community Gardens on Route 47.SOUTH HADLEY — GRO South Hadley, the town’s community garden on Route 47, is back for the season with onsite running water, a date for a food pantry planting, a plan for avoiding the tomato blight that swept the Northeast last year, and plots are still available in the newer section.
“GRO,” which stands for Gardening and Residential Outreach, was founded in 2009. The original 24 plots are spoken for, but a new section of 20 plots was added last year, and some of those are still available to South Hadley residents. Fee is $20 for a plot 10 by 20 feet.
Last summer a section of the property known as “the hill” was worked into shape by member Larry Dubois for purposes of contributing fresh produce to the South Hadley Food Pantry at 30 Carew St.
Susan Brouillette, who oversees the Food Pantry garden, said a planting will be held on there May 19 at 10 a.m. Volunteers from South Hadley High School and the Food Pantry will be there, and more volunteers are welcome.
In an effort to avoid tomato blight, this year members will be allowed to plant tomatoes only if they come from the greenhouse of member Robert Lak. The tomatoes are available at Lak’s farm stand on Ferry St. at $1.25 for a four-pack, $1.75 for a six-pack.
Lak is also donating vegetable plants free to the Food Pantry plot.
The soil in the new gardens is richer this year, said member Linda Young, thanks to the people at McCray’s Farm. They volunteered to “rototill” fertilizer into the ground at the end of last season to supply needed nutrients.
Four water faucets were installed among the gardens a year ago, thanks to a $1,500 grant from the Grassroots organization. Before that, gardeners had to trek to a nearby athletic field for water.
Young said the gardens produced a “wonderful” harvest last year. Even some of the tomatoes survived. This year, because of the warm winter, lettuce and spinach have already come up, she said.
The Food Pantry plot on the hill produced so many vegetables, said Brouillette, that surplus went to the South Hadley Senior Center.
To apply for a plot, South Hadley residents can email GRO.SoHadley@gmail.com or phone (413) 532-3921 or (413) 534-1013.
For more information on the community garden, go to the town’s website at www.southhadley.org/pages.
Besides Young, Dubois and Brouillette, other members of the GRO committee are Susan Kelsey, Joan Cummings, Pat Gouin and Dee Martin.