HILLSBOROUGH — Ask Nancy Rabinowitz what she and her husband, Paul, are planting in their garden, and she?ll pull out a neatly printed plan, complete with illustrations.
Tomatoes, melons and zucchini are among their choices. The plot itself is one of about 200 at the new Duke Farms Community Garden, which opened earlier this spring to gardeners who registered and won a parcel through a lottery.
?We had a very large garden at our house, but what?s happened over the last 10 years is the trees have grown up to a point where they block the sun,? said Paul Rabinowitz. ?It became very frustrating. We got sun until mid-May, but when the leaves were all there, forget it.?
At Duke Farms, their garden has full sun about 10 hours a day, plus a high fence to protect their crops from foraging deer.
The Rabinowitzes are two of many gardeners who have taken advantage of a growing group of community gardens in Central Jersey. In addition to the garden in Hillsborough, community gardens exist in Branchburg, East Brunswick and other locations in Somerset and Middlesex counties.
?They seem to be very popular,? said Paul Smith, director of designed landscapes at Duke Farms. ?Every community garden that has opened up in all the towns we?ve talked to have literally filled their plots. They have waiting lists.?
Duke Farms consulted the organizers of gardens in Lawrence Township and Flemington, as well as the Wagner Farm Arboretum Foundation in Warren Township.
?I really think that every town should have one,? said Dave Moskowitz, president of the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission, which started that township?s garden. ?It?s been a fantastic experience for us.?
Membership in the Duke Farms garden is open to people who live or work in Hillsborough, Somerville, Raritan Borough or Bridgewater ? close enough that they can reliably tend their plots.
The garden is entirely organic. Gardeners can?t use pesticides.
?Our mission is to inspire people to become stewards of the land. This was a way to give people an opportunity to grow produce, but also in a way that?s healthy to the environment,? said Holly Dunbar, a spokeswoman for Duke Farms.
The Rabinowitzes, who live in Bridgewater, said they were happy with the soil and plants that Duke Farms provided to its inaugural group of gardeners at the grand opening on April 30.
Branchburg?s two-year-old garden includes both an organic and inorganic section. Township Clerk Sharon Brienza said eager gardeners began reserving summer plots in early December.
Community gardens often make a variety of plots available at different prices. In Branchburg, for example, gardeners pay $30 for a 10-foot-by-10-foot plot ? or $20 if they?re seniors. A similar sized plot in East Brunswick or in the Duke Farms garden costs $10. Larger plots are also available in some gardens.
The gardens can be a way to reconnect with nature. Ed O?Neill, chairman of the committee that oversees Branchburg?s garden, said one gardener put down a brick walkway and installed a bird bath and bluebird house. A garden situated in a large field, like Branchburg?s, reminds its users what wide-open spaces look like.
It?s one thing to see a hundred fireflies in your own yard ? but ?stand out there and see a million fireflies across the fields,? he said.
?There?s also the whole concept of getting the kids out there so they can see how food is actually grown. It doesn?t come in plastic,? he said.
In addition to its 172 individual plots, East Brunswick?s garden includes shared areas, where all the gardeners work together to maintain herbs, asparagus and other crops.
Moskowitz said they then share in the bounty when the harvest comes. This year, the garden is putting in shared raspberries and sweet potatoes, paid for by a $2,500 grant from The Home Depot.
In addition, East Brunswick donates large quantities of produce to a local senior center and a crisis center ? more than 600 pounds last year. The gardeners have also established a ?sister garden? relationship with community gardeners in East Brunswick, Australia, near Melbourne, exchanging news, information and gardening tips. Moskowitz said there?s even a plan for a joint cookbook.
?It sounds kid of pat, but the truth is we always wanted to build a community of gardeners, and not just a community garden,? Moskowitz said.
At Duke Farms, some gardeners are similarly making plans to share some of their produce with the less fortunate. And they?re enjoying a growing sense of community, even in the garden?s first few days.
Linda Bolton, gardening with her husband, Ken, said she enjoys working alongside other gardeners. They can take care of each other?s plots during vacations and trade growing tips, she said.
?Everyone is so knowledgeable and helpful and friendly,? said Bolton, who lives in Green Brook but works in Somerville. ?It?s community in the strongest sense of the word.?
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