By PETER CHEE
Of the News-Register

Many avid gardeners can attest to the addictive nature of their favorite pastime, and there's nothing like eating fresh produce from one's own garden.

But gardening takes time. Not only that; it takes space, supplies and know-how.

At the McMinnville Community Garden, on a plot adjacent to and owned by The Salvation Army, the latter three requirements are taken care of.

The garden was designed to allow individuals and families - especially those in need - to grow their own small crops. Nearly all of the seeds and supplies are donated. The only real cost to The Salvation Army in years past has been the water bill.

By harvest time in the fall, the small plot will be bright with vegetables and plants. "Every year, we get more folks," said Salvation Army Maj. Dennis Trimmer.

He said tomatoes seem to be the most popular item grown.

"We probably could have started our own tomato sauce line if we wanted to," he said.

Trimmer said the garden can accommodate about 18 families at a time, with each allotted three planting rows.

Needy families won't just stretch their income further through the community garden. The fresh vegetables can also improve their overall health, as well, he said.

This year, the quarter-acre garden will be reconfigured into a raised bed design. With each bed about 8 inches off the ground and fed by drip irrigation hoses, the garden should be easier to maintain and more productive.

Local master gardener Kathleen O'Brian Blair said she's excited to get the community garden up and running for the season.

Since the community garden's beginning, the master gardener volunteers, based at OSU Extension Services in McMinnville, have been on hand to help community gardeners grow.

"The folks who want to garden want real fresh produce. They want to know where their food comes from," O'Brian Blair said. Right now, she hopes to raise public awareness of the garden, to let people know they have the resource available to them.

All tools, seeds, plants and compost are provided free of charge to community gardeners. In return for the garden's use, Trimmer asks for a portion - about a 10th - of the total yield be given back. This "sweat equity" produce goes into the Salvation Army's food bank.

O'Brian Blair said working the community garden goes beyond just harvesting food.

"It's hitting a critical point of consciousness," she said, explaining how a trend toward preparing slow-cooked meals at home can help families reconnect with each other. "It's life affirming and relationship building. It's redefining what wealth is seen to be."

At the garden in late February, McMinnville resident David Norman surveyed the heavily weeded and overgrown rows of the as-yet unprepared lot. The irrigation pipes needed some repair - damage from the cold, Norman explained. Not to worry; before moving to McMinnville a year ago to retire, Norman owned and operated his own irrigation business. He stood in the empty garden, jotting down notes and sketching a rough diagram.

There's time, he said. The pipes won't be needed until early May.

"It may not be a huge area," Norman said, surveying the lot. "But once it's working, it'll seem much larger than it is."

Norman says Yamhill County isn't all that different from his old home north of London.

"To me, it reminds me a lot of England," he mused. However, it rains more in Oregon he said.

Norman and his wife, Beverly, have their own row in the garden. He's hoping to grow some tomatoes, peppers and beans - specifically, English runner beans.

"My father used to grow them," Norman said. "It's like a pole bean, but instead of round, it's flat and has a pleasant flavor."

He said his wife would focus on growing flowers in their row, to be cut and possibly sold at a farmers market.

A new and repaired irrigation system would come together in the coming weeks. Coupled with the raised rows, Norman hoped it would increase production.

Trimmer said the garden has played a valuable role. But The Salvation Army is planning to develop the vacant lot it sits on in the near future. With proper funding, the space will provide a larger office space for the agency to serve the public, as well as low-income housing it can partition to those who need a few months to get back on their feet.

But with the garden yielding 800 to 1,000 pounds of produce each season - by Trimmer's conservative estimate - and its educational value, he hopes to integrate it with the housing.

Right now, Trimmer said he's looking forward to adding fresh vegetables and herbs to food bank baskets in the fall.

"There always seems to be not enough for a while - then there's too much, that's just how the harvest works," Trimmer said.

Applicants for the spring-summer gardening season will be accepted until May 1. Applicants for the winter gardening season have until July 1. For more information, call The Salvation Army at 503-472-1009.

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