The crowd on hand for the official ribbon cutting opening of the community gardens at Fodor Farm was another indication of strength of Norwalk’s civic community. On hand were many of the people who had queued up earlier in the week to obtain a plot patch. According to Director of Parks and Rec, Mike Mocciae, within 2 hours all the patches were sold, and there’s already a 100 person waiting list.
The Hour reports:
Mayor Richard A. Moccia cut a ribbon to mark the garden’s opening to the public and local politicians joined Moccia to celebrate the garden.
The community garden occupies roughly 1.8 acres of the larger 9.2-acre Fodor Farm property that the city acquired with the help of a state open space grant in 1997.
Residents purchased all of the 220 plots in the garden and approximately 100 people looking for a parcel have been placed on a waiting list, according to Parks and Recreation Director Michael Mocciae. The plots sold for $5 a piece and measure 4 feet by 12 feet.
“The amazing part was, when we had everyone in line getting plots, people realized that a lot of people weren’t going to get plots and they said, ‘We’re only going to take one (plot), not two, so other people can get plots,” Mocciae said.
On May 1, the plots will be officially assigned to their owners and the owners can begin planting items in their garden parcel on May 3. The city may have a farmer’s market at Fodor Farm near the end of June, according to Bondi.
Mike Morrone purchased two plots, one for him and one for his grandson, Anthony Cundari, a fifth-grader at Brookside Elementary School. Morrone, who lives nearby, plans to walk to the garden with his grandson daily to nurture his tomatoes and string beans.
As Mayor Moccia remarked, many people came together to make not only the gardens possible, but to keep the land as open space. Common Council President Fred Bondi, Norwalk Preservation Trust President Tod Bryant, Director of Health Tim Callahan and Parks and Rec Director Mike Mocciae all spoke and thanked the many people who contributed efforts to the project.
Perhaps the camaraderie on display will inspire other intra departmental grants and projects that Norwalkers can all embrace.
source: The Hour, Fodor Farm: A gardener’s Delight, by Steve Kobak, April 18, 2008
