Edina Community Garden Being Planned for Yorktown Park

Edina residents could soon have an opportunity to see if they have green thumbs, as the City is hoping to kick off a pilot community garden in Yorktown Park this summer.

A public hearing regarding the project is tentatively scheduled for the Edina Park Board's Mar. 12 meeting, but the idea has been brewing for more than a year now. According to Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Susan Faus, the City of Edina looked at how a number of neighboring cities have approached the idea before planning the pilot project.

Plots of both 10-by-10 feet and 10-by-15 feet will be available to residents to plant for one season—from May until October—at a cost of $25 and $30, respectively. Priority for those 50 initial plots will go to Edina residents first, but residents of neighboring communities will have a chance to apply if there is extra space after a set cutoff date. 

The Park Board discussed the rules and regulations of the Yorktown Park Community Garden on Feb. 12 of this month, in addition to a potential partnership with the Southdale YMCA to construct a parking lot near the garden space.

Parks and Recreation Director Ann Kattreh said it's been hard to gauge interest up to this point, but she has a feeling the 50 initial garden plots will be utilized this summer.

"Based on information from our neighboring communities, they've been popular and they do fill up," Kattreh told the Park Board.

The garden is planned to open the week of May 13 for planting, which Kattreh said has made for "a very aggressive timeline."

"We don't have two weeks to miss a step here," she said.

Should the project clear the Park Board later this month, it would then go before the City Council on Apr. 2. If approved, registration for Edina residents would open on Apr. 4 and the construction of the garden would begin on Apr. 8. A water source and garden fence would then be installed on May 3, according to a tentative timeline.

The garden site will be just to the east of the Tri-City Skate Park, north of the rear parking lot at the Southdale YMCA. Kattreh said she's been in talks with the YMCA to construct a paved lot to serve as parking for both community garden users and YMCA members. 

Initial discussions involved a parking lot that would have had as many as 40 parking spaces, but Kattreh said no sort of agreement had been drawn up at that time. Additional details are expected to be presented during the Mar. 12 public hearing.

"We're really very, very excited about this project," Kattreh said.

Like Edina Patch on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our daily newsletter