Sally Scalera

Our vegetable gardening season has begun and it will continue through the spring. Though some of the vegetables will continue to produce fruit into the summer (eggplant) and through the summer (cherry tomatoes, peppers, okra and summer squash), the time to plant has arrived. If you are a frustrated vegetable gardener because you don’t have a good area to vegetable garden in your yard, consider joining a community garden.

For those living in the central portion of Brevard, we have a new community garden starting this fall, just west of our office at 3695 Lake Drive in Cocoa. The garden consists of 4’x8’ raised beds filled with mushroom compost and they will be ready to grow fresh vegetables next month. Gardeners will have access to expert knowledge from University of Florida/IFAS faculty and Brevard County Master Gardeners. A 4’x8’ raised bed can be rented for $40 and two raised beds can be rented for just $65. There is also a mandatory meeting for all gardeners that will be held Thursday, September 7th at 6 p.m.

The rental fee includes the 4’x8’ raised bed and mushroom compost, a micro-irrigation system and water, mulch, flower and vegetable seeds, the use of some gardening tools and garden access during daylight hours, seven days a week. The beds can be cultivated from September 7th, 2017 through June 14th, 2018. Help is also available for all gardening questions throughout the gardening season.

There are a large variety of seeds that will be available for growing. The seeds that will be provided for each bed include; arugula (‘Astro’), basil (‘Caesar’), bean (‘Provider’), beet (‘Red Ace’), broccoli (‘Diplomat’), carrot (‘Mokum’), Brussels sprout (‘Hestia’), cabbage (‘Tendersweet’, ‘Ruby Perfection’), calendula (‘Costa Mix’), cauliflower (‘Snow Crown’), dill (‘Bouquet’), fennel (‘Orazio’), French marigold (‘Durango Outback Mix’), kale (‘Winterbor’), lettuce (‘Bambi’, ‘Cegolaine’, and ‘Rosaine’), nasturtium (‘Jewel Mix’), pea (‘Sugar Sprint’), pepper–hot (‘Ancho San Luis’, ‘Golden Cayenne’, ‘Jalafuego’, ‘Large Red Thick Cayenne’), pepper-sweet (‘X3R Red Knight’), radish (‘Crunchy Royale’), Swiss chard (‘Bright Lights’), tomato-cherry (‘Black Cherry’, ‘Sweet Gold Hybrid’), and tomato (‘Early Girl Hybrid’, ‘Ball’s Beefsteak’, ‘Box Car Willie’, ‘Tropic’, ‘Arkansas Traveler’).

There are numerous benefits attributed to community gardens such as learning new things, making new friends, getting outside in the fresh air, stretching and lifting (which is a fun way to get exercise), reduce stress and don’t forget eating fresh vegetables. If you don’t live near Cocoa, there are several municipalities that have created, or are in the process of creating, community gardens.

One of the earliest, if not the first community garden to form in Brevard County was done by the city of Palm Bay for the families living in the Lockmar subdivision. The families pay yearly (pro-rated) dues to participate. The city provided the land at 282 Nemo Circle NE.

Another community garden, Seeds of Change, located in Melbourne, west of US 1, along the railroad tracks, between Prospect Ave and Line Street. The city of Cape Canaveral also has an established community garden at 200 Long Point Road. The city of Satellite Beach is in the process of creating a community garden that will be located at the Desoto Park complex. Interested residents can contact Nicholas Sanzone, the Environmental Programs Coordinator, via email at nsanzone@satellitebeach.org.

The city of Cocoa Beach also is in the planning stages of creating a community garden.

I am sure that as time goes on, more and more community gardens will “sprout” up. The good news is, we already have several community gardens either under construction, or already up and running.

If fresh vegetables sound delicious, but you don’t have a good spot to grow them in your yard, consider joining a community garden. Sally Scalera is an urban horticulture agent and master gardener coordinator for the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences.