Those who want to start their own garden but do not have enough space can take advantage of Normal’s Community Gardens.
The two gardens at Ironwood Park and One Normal Plaza opened to Normal residents and nonresidents earlier this month.
Eugene Kotlinski, the assistant director of parks and recreation for the Town of Normal, shared the inspiration behind the gardens’ creation.
“The thought was to give an opportunity to those who live in apartments and other types of housing that do not have access to open property to create their own garden,” Kotlinski said.
The gardens are affordable for those who utilize their green thumb and grow their own produce.
“Gardeners realize the satisfaction of growing their own produce. And since we prohibit the use of any synthetic pesticides, all produce is organic, free from herbicides and insecticides utilized on traditional farms,” Kotlinski said.
“Gardeners experience a great sense of community and relationship building while participating in our program. While each participant plants, maintains and harvests their own plot, gardeners get to know their neighbors by extending helping hands, sharing gardening tips and looking out for each other,” Kotlinski continued.
The One Normal Plaza location includes a raised planter box to make it accessible for wheelchair users.
Kotlinski highlighted the uniqueness of Normal’s community gardening program.
“The community gardening program is unlike others that exist in Central Illinois. Some programs allow the entire community to harvest the produce,” Kotlinski said.
“Our program is exclusively for gardeners. They plant it, and then only they harvest it,” Kotlinski continued.
Registration information can be found here, and more information can be found here.
Lauren Kunesh is a News and Features reporter for The Vidette. Kunesh can be contacted at lekunes@ilstu.edu.
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