Big Bear Lake, CA — A community garden will soon be sprouting in Big Bear Lake, given the efforts of the grassroots group the Big Bear Valley Community Gardens Project and the recent permits approval from the Planning Commission. As a June 16 decision from the Commission will allow for the development of a garden at 42050 Fox Farm Road, on the nearly half acre of County property between CVS and Medical Arts Pharmacy, garden committee member Robbie Bos tells KBHR, “We are thrilled with this opportunity to move forward. As we see it, this will be our first community garden, with more to come in different locations throughout the Big Bear Valley.” The garden will allow for individuals, or groups, to have their own plots to grow produce. As outlined by Bos, “We’re going to have over 36 dual garden plots, so everyone who participates will have two 4’x12’ plots with raised beds, which will be ADA compliant. We’ll also have a three-stage compost pile, and a staging area to be used for weekly talks by gardening experts. Probably the most important thing is that we plan to have a raised water tank in the center of the garden, which will then gravity feed into the garden plots. The garden will also include a cute, little residential fence around the perimeter and, in the future, we’ll have a fruit tree grove and a storage shed. We are going to go full blast with everything we wanted to do.” The community garden plots will be available to all Big Bear Valley residents on a first-come, first-served basis, and Bos anticipates there will be a waiting list—but, again, the plan is to have this be the first of many community gardens. “People will be able to grow their own food,” he adds, “and if they want to donate to food banks, that would be terrific. We’ll also have some open garden areas that we will use to grow specifically for the local food banks and the community.” Plans are to begin construction of the garden this year, to allow for planting in 2011—and, in the meantime, likely a community art contest to come up with a sign for the garden. Those interested in participating in the efforts of the Big Bear Valley Community Gardens Project can call Robbie Bos for more information at 486-7676.
