Green Garden Dreams

I stayed in Escondido for a little while in March of 2012. On my way to breakfast one day, I spied a large community garden on the west side of Centre City Parkway.

Doing a little research during breakfast, I discovered there are two community gardens in Escondido.

The smaller one is the South Escondido Garden, at 1540 South Escondido Boulevard.

I went and took some photos and looked over the fence. One interesting thing was the little concrete posts used to border the plots. And why is every community garden full of Fava beans?!
 

Another view:

One more:

I then drove up to the larger garden, the Escondido Community Garden, near Centre City Parkway between El Norte Parkway and Mission Avenue. They have to main area: one for the general public, and the southern section for seniors. I talked to a couple of people at the senior garden. A very nice gardener named “Lilian” spent quite a bit of time chatting with me about the garden. Their plots are 20 feet by 20 feet! (The main section plots for the general public are “only” 4’x16′). They get free mulch from the city, and mushroom compost from a mushroom farm (also free I believe).

The use of concrete blocks for plot borders is a difference from other gardens I’ve seen.

A nice covered picnic table area:

A longer view, looking north to the main section:

The senior gardens area:

Another view of the senior gardens area. This underutilized plot is going to be given to a new gardener:

Before I left, Lilian gave me a large bag of lettuce straight from her garden. We had shared experiences and knowledge about pests, community, and many other aspects of gardening. That sharing is one of the great things that a community garden is about!

For more information, the City of Escondido has a page here about their program:
http://www.escondido.org/community-gardens-program.aspx