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By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
LONGPORT – The borough has had a community garden in the park at the rear of Borough Hall for several years. At 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 11, volunteers will be planting vegetables and herbs for harvesting by residents this summer.
Borough Clerk Monica Kyle will be purchasing tomatoes, basil, cucumber and pepper plants. Volunteers are needed to do the planting, but the harvest can be enjoyed by anyone. The new annual plants will compliment the perennial herbs and strawberry plants already sprouting in the garden.
The garden includes several raised beds equipped with drip irrigation.
“This was part of the borough’s green initiative,” resident and green team member Suzi Lawler said. “Anyone can pick what they want.”
The last time the garden was planted was summer of 2019, before the pandemic, Lawler said.
Neighbor Ellen Sall lives across the street from Borough Hall and nurtured and harvested the bounty to share with Ozzie’s Luncheonette and Catch restaurant, she said.
“I felt like it was my personal farm,” Sall said.
She said that year, the butternut squash and cucumbers planted the year before re-seeded themselves and grew without much effort on the part of gardeners.
There are six raised beds about four feet off the ground. They were intentionally built higher to prevent those rascally rabbits from consuming all the produce.
“They still jump into the beds, so I sprinkled hot peppers around to keep them away,” Sall said.
Volunteers can bring their own gloves and garden tools to the planting, along with their “green thumb,” of course.
COVID-19 protocols for social distancing will be in effect.
