FROMONLINE | 2013-05-21

  • By Tami Lange
  • May 21, 2013
  • 355
                        
In three vacant lots in Wooster, fresh vegetables are about to grow. Those lots – in the 400 blocks of Spink and North Buckeye streets and in the 300 block of West Larwill Street – were donated to Habitat for Humanity in Wayne County, according to executive director Jane DalPra. All three lots had vacant houses deemed beyond reasonable repair and demolished with funds from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was administered by the Wayne Metropolitan Housing Authority. The WMHA then donated the lots to Habitat. But the timeline to do something with the lots was short and DalPra said her organization did not have clients without home sites at the time. So they floated the idea of using the spaces – at least temporarily – for community gardens. We’re still serving neighborhoods in our community,” said DalPra, “just in a different capacity.” So the WMHA pitched the idea to state officials, who gave their blessing. It took one post on the North Buckeye Street Association’s Facebook page to get things moving. “Within 15 minutes, David Griffith responded and we set up a meeting,” said DalPra. Griffith lives on North Buckeye and has been active in the neighborhood association, along with Lukas and Amanda Gaffey, who purchased one of the Main Street Wooster Howey Houses just across the street from the lot in question. The house that once stood on the lot was originally slated for total rehabilitation as part of the Howey Houses project, but was not in good enough shape for a cost-effective outcome. Now the Gaffeys have volunteered to oversee the project and Lukas Gaffey sketched out the design for the gardens, which include 6-by-12-foot raised beds, a 16-by-20-foot ground level garden, a composting station and rainwater collection. “We trying to keep it natural,” Gaffey said as he worked with a small group of volunteers to put together the beds on a recent Saturday morning. “We want a nice, clean looking garden with defined spaces.” While Gaffey got assistance from members of Northview Alliance Church, where he attends, the Spink and Larwill gardens also are getting support from local congregations. Wooster United Methodist is assisting with the Larwill work, according to DalPra, while St. Mary’s Catholic Church is doing outreach on the Spink land. LuK USA also has provided materials and labor on Spink, DalPra said, while garden clubs and related garden business also have been asked to lend a hand. “It’s taking on a nice little life of its own,” she said, adding that LuK volunteers already had been working on Spink. When DalPra went to check the lot, she said, “I couldn’t get over it. All the beds were done.” The idea is to utilize the space for vegetable gardening, according to DalPra, though Gaffey said some perennials were planned for Buckeye as well. Gaffey said about a dozen people have signed up for a spot. Once everyone on the street has a chance to get a spot, he said, they will be opened to the wider community. DalPra said that on Spink, STEPS at Liberty Center also has been invited to participate. Whether or not the gardens become permanent is yet to be seen. DalPra said she hopes to have landscape cloth put down between the rows, which also will help cut Habitat’s time and cost in mowing. In the meantime, Gaffey plans for at least several weekends’ worth of work. Beyond that, he said, “It depends on the people.”


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