Got the Pandemic Blues? Go Green at the Community Garden

The cure for the pandemic blues might just be green, as in garden green.

East Brunswick residents can turn the page on a winter spent mostly indoors by renting a plot at the township’s Community Garden, located adjacent to the municipal complex off Rues Lane. A limited number of 10x10 plots are now available for new gardeners on a first-come, first-served basis for $45 for the first season.

The garden is open to township residents and people who work in East Brunswick. It’s an ideal way for those lacking the space, sunlight or soil at home to be part of a community of gardeners.

All gardeners are required to put in four hours of community garden service each year by working with a committee and participating in work days, or paying $40 in lieu of service. Gardeners can select from a list of committees found on the registration form.

For more information and to register for a plot, go online to the registration form.

The garden’s website offers timely articles, tips and tricks for gardeners, a calendar of events and information on donating surplus produce. Gardeners have donated more than a ton of surplus produce in the last few years. Meetings and events during the year also give gardeners a chance to share ideas outside the garden.

To keep gardeners safe, several rules, including mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing while in the garden were instituted last year.

Established in 2009, the garden offers 160 plots for new and returning gardeners who live or work in East Brunswick. Fencing erected by the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission and the township protects the area from deer and other critters. For more information, send email to ebcgarden@gmail.com.

The East Brunswick Community Garden is a project of the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization.