Community gardens are gaining in popularity in Knoxville. City officials are looking at them as a way to fight blight.

David Massey, Neighborhood Coordinator for the City of Knoxville, said more people are inquiring about planting community gardens on empty lots around town.

“Community gardens are a way for individuals to come together, learn from each other, and pool their resources and produce food that can be shared,” said Massey.

Massey said there are legal challenges and some possible soil issues to work out before the city will give permission to communities to build gardens on empty lots.

“It’s not legal to build a storage shed on a lot without a house. It’s not necessarily possible to get KUB water onto an empty lot without a building permit,” said Massey.

Despite those challenges, Massey said the City considers community gardens a way to revitalize communities.

A model community garden was planted in Tyson Park, near the UT campus, last spring. Residents have planted tomatoes, peppers, and flowers in the area. They also installed a rain-barrel watering system at the site to collect water for the garden.

According to the American Community Gardening Association, there are more than 18,000 community gardens in the country. That number has increased as the economy soured, and as the debate about organic produce has blossomed. Massey said growing interest in community gardens in Knoxville are following that trend.

St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Farragut planted it’s own version of a community garden last spring as well. Church member John Tomlinson got the idea two years ago after being inspired by a sermon. This year church members built nine raised planting beds, and cultivated about one-third acre of land next to the church’s sanctuary.

“A lot of tomatoes, a lot of peppers. We planted a crop of corn expecting about 1,000 ears. We got 300,” said Tomlinson.

The church gives the produce to the food bank at Farragut Christian Church and to Iva’s place, a shelter for battered women. They call it an outreach garden.

“The food we have left over, we’re working with the Volunteer Ministry Center in Knoxville to prepare meals for the homeless,” said Tomlinson.

The Church plans to grow a garden again next year, after preparing compost piles and getting healthier soil over the winter. They hope to grow even more food than they did this year.

The City is willing to work with communities interested in starting a garden in their neighborhood. Call David Massey at 215-3232 for more information or visit the Office of Neighborhoods website.

Copied from the WBIR web site