Community Garden opens; vision fulfilled

After countless hours of volunteer work, the Canyon Lake Community Garden, located at 23592 Schooner, is finally open for the green thumbs of the community. The garden, consisting of 15 ready-for-planting beds, will allocate these spaces through a community lottery system. There are an additional five beds that are allocated for gardening workshops and for the community in general to utilize.

Kelly Lopez, the visionary behind the community garden, outlined the garden’s regulations, including restrictions on plant types and pesticide use, to ensure a safe and communal gardening environment. The lottery winners will be responsible for their plot’s upkeep and can harvest their own produce.

In addition to individual beds, the garden features five raised beds designated for communal use. For the other 15 raised beds, a fee is associated with renting the plots, and lottery winners will receive access to the garden’s locked gate in order to tend to their gardens at their convenience.

Club member Donna Thibodeau fills one of the 20 raised garden beds with soil at the Community Garden. Photo provided by Ginny Papavero

The project, which began in 2020, faced delays due to the pandemic, but gained momentum following Kelly’s presentation at a recreation meeting. With the community’s support, including donations from Home Depot and Tractor Supply, the garden has come to fruition.

“I couldn’t have done it without Kasey Castillo, she has been really helpful,” Kelly said. “At the first recreation committee meeting I met Kasey’s mother-in-law who told me she thought her daughter-in-law could help me.”

It was after that meeting when everything started getting put into place. Kelly was given advice to start a club and get a non-profit 501c in place to start raising funds for the garden. Kelly said she was a bit overwhelmed with the task at hand, but received so much support from people in the community she felt she could get it done. Her efforts paid off.

The Canyon Lake Community Gardeners club was formed and has held several meetings and workshops. It is the club that has provided most of the work in clearing the lot and installing the raised beds.

With the 501c in place, people and businesses were able to donate to the club. Home Depot has contributed and Tractor Supply gives free seeds to the garden. Community members have been very generous as well.

Volunteer members of the Community Gardeners of Canyon Lake work on moving piles of dirt as the Canyon Lake Community Garden takes shape. The garden will hold a lottery for the available 15 raised beds. Photo provided by Ginny Papavero

Kelly’s vision extends beyond gardening. She is gifted in educating the community, especially children, about the joys and benefits of growing their own food. The community garden plans to host various workshops on topics like irrigation, planting, and seed starting.

“What I have always hoped this garden could do is to teach people, especially young people, that gardening is fun, it’s full of wonder and it’s amazing to be able to eat what you grow,” Kelly said. “I’m really hoping to get young people involved, just really have it be a true community garden.”

The garden’s creation not only fosters community bonding, but also challenges the notion that nothing can grow in Canyon Lake’s climate.

“My favorite thing about the garden is that many people in Canyon Lake say that nothing grows in Canyon Lake,” club member Chris Papavero said. “They say it’s too hot, it’s too rocky, we just don’t have the right soil. I keep telling everybody you can grow whatever you want in here, but it takes work. You have to get better dirt and create better dirt. It does take work.”

The community garden serves as a learning and gathering space, aiming to expand with more participation from the community.

“I would love to see family picnics with family gardening days,” she said. “Learning together about how to garden is a great way to bring the community together. The community comes together, learns from each other and learns from the club.”

The spring planting will take place on March 23 at the community garden.

“We will be using a raised bed in the Community Garden to demonstrate vertical gardening, companion planting, square foot gardening and seed starting,” Kelly said. “The workshop is open to all community members and is free.”

Some of the classes the garden will offer will be Irrigation 101, Spring Planting, Fall Planting, and How to Start Seeds. Kelly also hopes to get other organizations to utilize the club’s garden such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who can learn about gardening and earn their patches.

“Having a vision come to reality has its reward,” Kelly said. “Seeing the community garden come together is so rewarding and it is actually a reality. I have met so many wonderful people who are so kind, who I never would have met without this garden project. It is such a joy.”

Kelly said her biggest challenge has been to be patient and persistent.

“You need three things: to be passionate, patient and persistent,” she said. “It’s hard when you need more help. It is usually the same people who are helping, which can lead to burnout.”

The Canyon Lake POA has been instrumental in helping the garden, however Kelly said there are more needs. The garden needs more chairs, a shade area, a shed, tables, fruit trees, flowering plants to plant along the front beds area, tools, gift cards, and, of course, more volunteer labor.

“We would love to get some high school students who need volunteer hours to help at the garden,” Kelly said.

Kelly hopes to see the garden expand. The Canyon Lake POA provided the lot for the garden. The garden currently has an irrigation system with water availability at the site. Kelly said the POA was wonderful in helping get the garden started, however, she said the POA would like to see the community utilize the garden prior to expanding it. The garden can grow by simply moving the gate out to accommodate more garden space.

For those interested in applying for a garden bed, volunteering, or donating items, contact Kelly at kelcg3@gmail.com. The spring planting workshop is scheduled for March 23 which will highlight different gardening techniques and is open to all community members.