Plotting a garden in Callanan Park

A triangle of land in the City of Shelton's Callanan Park could bloom into a community garden that produces food for local people in need.

The Shelton City Council on Tuesday evening gave preliminary agreement to allow Hands on Personal Empowerment (HOPE) Garden and the Mason Conservation District to establish a community garden of about 10,000 square feet in the park's southeast corner at the junction of West E Street and Van Buren Street, across the street from Shelton Memorial Park. The council can make the move official at its Oct. 5 meeting.

The non-commercial garden would produce food to feed clients of two Shelton-based nonprofits, Community Lifeline and The Saints' Pantry food bank, and offer plots to low-income residents.

"It's a little used area that's quite visible to the neighbors," Mark Ziegler, the city's director of parks & recreation and economic development, told the council.

Callanan Park is located at 400 West E St., and is the city's largest at 8.27 acres.

The city report states "Staff believes this project will further add to the amenities in Callanan Park and bring new opportunities to the surrounding neighborhood to recreate and further community engagement."

In the proposed action, the city would assist with site preparation and extend utilities to the garden. HOPE would construct the garden beds and support infrastructure.

The city writes the spot would also be used as a "teaching garden for workshops offered to veterans, students and the public at large." Native edible plants along the fence at the garden would "offer more opportunities for education, food security and cultural relevance."

The city would provide water and power to the garden, and HOPE would maintain and manage it, Ziegler said.

In an interview with the Shelton-Mason County Journal, HOPE Garden Executive Director Rachel Uberman said the proposal is a joint effort by HOPE and the Mason Conservation District. The two entities approached the city with the idea, she said.

"We're so excited," Uberman said. "We've wanted to do a community garden for such a long time."

Some of the garden plots would be awarded free of charge on an annual basis to low-income residents, and other plots would be dedicated to grow produce for the food banks, Uberman said.

HOPE sports a garden across the street from Mason Health, and at Evergreen and Bordeaux elementary schools. A new garden recently was installed at CHOICE High School in downtown Shelton.

This year, the gardens have produced more than 1,000 pounds of produce that were donated to food banks, Uberman said.

"Our hope is to just focus on food security in Mason County," she said.

At Tuesday's meeting, council member Eric Onisko noted that the HOPE Garden next to the hospital has been vandalized and asked if security cameras would be installed at the Callanan Park garden.

Ziegler replied that cameras are not planned, and HOPE Garden representatives have not expressed concern about vandalism.

"Their concern is more about deer," he said.