b'Grow,Share Ideasand Give Back Community gardens bring residents togetherBY CINDY PERMANJennifer Thomas, president of the Maplewood Community Gar-den committee, plants tomatoes at the town hall site. Photo by Cindy Perman.T here are a lot of backyard gar- Its all about community ideasgar-denersinMaplewoodandTalking to leaders of all the gardens, one SouthOrange,butdidyouthing shines through: The importance of the knowthatbothtownshavecommunity in community gardens.community gardens? Oneofthegoalsofcommunity Thesearegroupsof4x12dening is to get people to shareand raisedgardenbedsthatresi- bringcommunitytogether,saysOlivia dentscanrenttogrowvegetables,herbs,Lewis-Chang,aclinicalpsychologistwho flowersandotherplants.Youmustbeais on South Oranges Village Council and is resident to participate in your towns com- the chair of the South Orange Community munity garden. Its $80 to rent a garden bedGarden executive committee. Theres cross-for the season in South Orange and $85 inculturalandinter-generationalsharingof Maplewood. Although both are sold out forknowledge.this season, youll have plenty of information if you want to join when registration opens next winter. Just contact your town about how to apply. People join the community gardens for a variety of reasons: Some live in apartments without their own yards, others may live in a house but have a lot of shade in their yard. South Orange Community Garden Committee Chair Olivia(This is MapleWOOD, after all!) Some just Lewis-Chang working on the free herb bed on a clean-up day in May. Photo by Cindy Perman. enjoythecamaraderieofgardeningwith others.Maplewood has two community gardenSouth Orange Community Garden committee members: Jeanine Launay, Laura Payne, Anna sites. One is located behind Town Hall onNelson, Olivia Lewis-Chang and John Shabe on Valley Street and the other on Boyden Av- a garden clean-up day in May, standing behind enue, on the side of the parking lot near thethe free herb section. Photo by Cindy Perman.community pool. Spend a few minutes at the gardens, and Its nice to see and meet people with dif- youll come away with a lot of ideas, such as ferent backgrounds, says Jennifer Thomas, ahow to build Lego-like raised garden beds, second-grade teacher at Tuscan School andwhere you can easily swap out a board if it presidentoftheMaplewoodCommunitystarts to rot, how to create your own cucum-Garden committee. ber trellis using fallen tree branches (genius!) The South Orange Community Gardenand how to add an extra layer of protection is in Waterlands Park on West Third Streetagainst critters by planting garlic or onions near Church Street, along the west bank ofaround the border of your bed. Heck, you the east branch of the Rahway River. (Thecan even go there just to talk tomato, learn-Joy Yagid tends to her garden in the Maplewood CommunityclosestparkingisstreetparkingonWesting what types of tomatoes are successful for Garden at town hall. Photo by Cindy Perman. Third Street.)other gardeners and which ones are the most 24/ matters magazine / summer 2025'