Once again South Portland is in the position to expand it’s reputation as a place one wants to live in because of it’s many unique assets. I’m referring to the efforts of a new organization known as the Community Garden Collective to develop neighborhood community garden sites throughout the city so that it’s only a short drive or walk to your local garden spot; an old-time idea that has come of age again.

Having been involved, as a board member of Cultivating Community, with the Boyd Street Gardens that run between Franklin Arterial and Boyd Street in Portland, I can attest to the benefits they have provided for the local residents, especially the children, and the beauty they have added to the neighborhood. Senior citizens often come just to sit in the gardens and chat with friends.

While the collective’s goals seemed to have been accepted at the presentation they made to the City Council recently, there was concern expressed about their request for their first location, the Hamlin School lot. I would suggest that it is a location totally in line with the group’s commitment to establish local garden spots for local residents. The group’s members live within the greater Hamlin School area. This location will facilitate a successful first garden for them while they develop the hands-on working plan and demonstration site for the other community gardens they foresee throughout the city.

Linden Thigpen Pavloff
South Portland