Group encourages growth of community gardens

By: SHANNON WINGARD - For the North County Times | Monday, February 19, 2007 11:34 PM PST ∞

OCEANSIDE -- Those interested in growing organic vegetables or native California plants can team up with a local group called Local Power San Diego that was created to encourage people to do just that, organizers said.

Oceanside resident Andrew Watkins, 25, said he established the organization 2 1/2 years ago to promote organic gardening in the community. The group encourages people to allow a piece of their home or business property to be used for a community garden.

After that, he said, the organization's members plant the garden and maintain it. The group now has about 25 members.

"It takes a lot to care for a garden, but if you have help then it becomes easier," he said. Ý

Local Power San Diego now has three garden projects in North County, including an advanced garden at Yoga Swami in Encinitas, Watkins said.

Dawn Singer, owner of the yoga center, said she reached out to Watkins' organization to get some helpÝtransforming her weed-laden backyard into an eye-opening garden.

Singer said the "creation-in-progress" garden, which wasÝplanted by members of the organization and the yoga studio, elicits a special feeling from her.

"This is a space of connectedness and community,"Ýshe said. "It has something to do with bringing peace and connecting people."

She also said the experience has helped herÝto realize a true passion.Ý

"I always knew I liked being in nature, but never knew I would enjoy working in a garden," she said. Ý

Watkins said he believes children may benefit most from the experience of community gardening, because "it teaches them something that is becoming important to the future -- sustainable living." Ý

He said the idea to create the group came during an extended stay in Baja, Mexico, when he was 22 years old. He watched entire families work together and realized how much could be accomplished with that approach.

"I was looking for direction and something to do with my life," he said. "Then the idea just came to me -- be the change that you want to see in the world."

For the group's first garden, at Yoga Swami, a professional organic gardener helped to select plants. The result is a handful of types of cactus and native California ferns, as well as some organic vegetables such as butterleaf lettuce.

Watkins said the organization is now planting a garden in a plot next to Oceanside's Civic Center on Civic Center Drive, as well as one in his parents' backyard in Oceanside.

The group is striving to plant community gardens at various locations, especially people's homes and businesses, he said, to demonstrate that community gardens can be created with a relatively small amount of money or space.

It also creates "an intimate feeling" for the garden, he said. Ý

"Giving that opportunity to the community makes it feel more genuine," he said.

Watkins said his goal is to help people be more environmentally conscious and learn that working together is the best way to achieve results.

"What we really needed in the community was a way for all -- parents, children, grandparents -- to have a common ground," he said. "I think this has the potential to do that." Ý

Watkins said he has set his sights high for the future of the organization.

"I would like to expand throughout San Diego until I see a garden close enough to anyone who is interested," he said. Ý

-- For more information, go to www.localpowersd.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.