Stettler is well on its way to having its own community garden next spring with the community giving enthusiastic feedback to the plans aimed at allowing residents to grow their own vegetables.
Residents, representatives of town administration and the leaders of the community garden initiative met at the Stettler Recreation Centre on Monday night, Nov. 9, to review the progress and discuss possible issues that could affect the preparations.
Rob Spencer of the Heartland Beautification Committee, who is spearheading the effort, said there was a good turnout at the meeting and they were quite satisfied with the discussions they had.
“We talked about the potential for vandalism and how to create not just a visual barrier but also a physical barrier to prevent people from driving into the garden,” said Spencer.
He said they were encouraged by the suggestions coming from the residents who said they wouldn’t mind some concrete being put up to protect the planned garden area.
“We are probably not looking at fencing but we are thinking more of a tangible than a visual barrier.”
Spencer said there was intense interest on the part of all participants in the discussions surrounding various aspects of the planned garden, including water supply.
“Initially it will be a fairly small site, about 50 by 100 foot,” said Spencer in reference to the site which is just south of Highway 12 and east of the Smitty’s reastaurant, north of the Rotary campground.
“If there is interest, there will be room for expansion, if people come and ask for more plots, we should be able to accommodate that.”
Next step for the initiative is to get a seal of approval from the town council.
“We have already visited an overwhelming majority of the residents in the area one-on-one and explained them what we are trying to do and received very positive feedback,” said Spencer.
Once the town gives its green light for the project, Spencer says they will start to appeal to interested individuals and families to get prepared for next spring.