“In 2009, we were sitting on our patio having a martini one evening and looking at this empty hockey rink and wondering what it could be, and we decided it could be a community garden.”
After seeing an unused space in Park Point, Coral McDonnell and Ellie Alspach decided to create something the entire community could enjoy, so the Lafayette Community Edible Garden was born.
And with Spring here, on Saturday a group gathered to start the 2026 gardening season.
“We plant a lot of greens, squash, beans, peas, lots of tomatoes and cucumbers,” said McDonnell.
The first meeting was spent rebuilding and rotating plant beds.
“When we first started, we built beds out of old hockey boards and when they rotted away, we were given these metal, corrugated pieces from the rowing club that was building a new building. So, they gave us their old, corrugated metals, so then we built beds out of those,” said McDonnell. “Then as some of those started to rot, the members started to repair them.”
In total, the garden has about 40 plant beds and 50 members, all working together to plant food that will end up on their dinner tables, at their next community potluck, or donated.
“We always have too many tomatoes so that goes to Chum or the food shelf. We like to share the goodies,” said Alspach.
The gardeners take suggestions on what should be planted, and this year, they decided to focus on growing potatoes and cucumbers.
Many members grew up near Lafayette Park, including McDonnell. She says seeing this space being used is wonderful.
“It means a lot to me because I live there, and when I look out my kitchen window, I’m always looking at the garden and then starting in early June, there’s a kids program out of Lafayette, so to see the kids come and work in the garden and play on the fields here is very, it’s, I live in a wonderful place.”
More information about the Lafayette Community Edible Garden can be found on the Park Point Community Club .
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