Thinking about growing something in Monroe

The MCG is made up of Monroe residents who want to help the city of Monroe set up a program to turned some of the unused property owned by the city into productive community gardens.

Ideally, we'll do this quickly enough to plant by the middle of April, but that will require getting the Monroe City Council to sign off on the idea. The Monroe Beautification Director, Jacqueline January, has already voiced her support for the idea as part of the Monroe Proud initiative by the city. Now we need to get it on the agenda for the next meeting (which is at 7 p.m. next Tuesday.)

If we can do that, we will need public turnout as a show of political will.

Here's where we stand on the project so far. Ms. January and Mike Roberts have been talking. She has said it should be possible to have land at the Rochelle Pump Station and the Marx Street Pump Station committed to the project. These plots of land already have water access. The city should also be able to mow the land so we can set up individual plot. There is also talk of creating compost stations using grass clippings and leaves already collected by the city, as well as manure from the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo.

Mike has also been in communication with the local homebuilders association about providing scrap construction material and expertise to help build the plots.

We will continue to post information, including first drafts of plans for the actual execution of the Monroe Community Gardens project, as we have it.

If you would like more information, or if you would like to help organize the gardens, send us an email to monroegardens@gmail.com. Our next meeting is at Lea's at the intersection of Louisville Avenue and 4th Street on the Sunday after Easter at 9 a.m.

Please consider joining us.