HOPE Garden beds available at Callanan Park

Twenty raised garden beds are available at Shelton's Callanan Park to low-income families who want to grow their own fruits and vegetables.

The community garden is collaboration between Hands on Personal Empowerment (HOPE) Garden, Mason Conservation District and the City of Shelton.

The garden beds are available first come, first served. Application forms are available on the HOPE Garden Project and Mason Conservation District websites.

Four or five of them will be raised for easier access for gardeners in wheelchairs, or who cannot stoop low. Two or three of the beds will be devoted to growing food for clients of The Saints' Pantry Food Bank in downtown Shelton.

Residents who don't own homes usually don't have the option to have a garden, and if they do, they can't take it with them when they move, said Rachel Uberman, the executive director of HOPE Garden.

"Having an opportunity to come together in this setting is super important," Uberman said. She added, "Growing food is something people do together."

The Shelton City Council in October agreed to allow HOPE Garden and the Mason Conservation District to establish the 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 city is assisting with site preparation and extending utilities to the garden. HOPE is constructing 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 will provide water and power to the garden, and HOPE will maintain and manage it, Mark Ziegler, the city's director of the Parks and Recreation department, said in September.

Mason Conservation District and HOPE had considered establishing the community garden next to the Hoodsport Timberland Library, but that site "was a little bit out of the way," said Jen Thurmon-Williams, an environmental specialist with the Mason Conservation District. Callanan Park is closer for the students who work on the garden, she said.

HOPE Garden hosts gardens at four other sites: Evergreen Elementary School, Bordeaux Elementary School, CHOICE High School and across the street from Mason General Hospital.

Native plants are being added to the site, including huckleberries, salmonberries and red currants. Cedar High School students have weeded the site and cleared it of Scotch broom. A gate will be added in the hope of keeping out deer.

"By the beginning of May, people can start growing food," Uberman said.

A grand opening is expected in June, she said.