“We’re so excited to have a garden again. We can’t wait until the fall so they can start gardening,” Junior League of Boca Raton’s outgoing president Cristy Stewart-Harfmann said after the Brightline groundbreaking Monday May 10.
The League ceased gardening on their original plot in front of the Downtown Library in April 2020. Brightline agreed to pay $300,000 for a new location, since their Boca station would require a move.
Now they’ll occupy 2 acres in Meadows Park, 1300 NW Eighth St. “It’s cleared dirt now,” Stewart-Harfmann said.
“We will have more than 100 plots with a mix of 4×12, 4×8, 15 raised teaching plots and 4×4 raised ADA plots. With the majority of the plots being 4×12.
“The garden will also have a native plant/ pollinator garden, open space, food forest, gazebo, and composting areas.”
Sales will open in mid-July, she said. Anyone can be added to the garden email list at Garden@jlbr.org to be notified when lot sales begin, she added. Here’s the link: https://www.jlbr.org/community-garden/
The garden will be situated between the tennis courts, with a pass-thru connecting the large section on the east to a smaller section.
Why that spot?
“The city gave us a number of locations,” the president said, adding a master gardener checked them out. “We wanted to keep it close to our garden and in a central location. That’s a great location across from Boca Middle School, and it has ample parking.”
The original community garden was conceived by then city council president and Junior League sustainer Susan Whelchel 10 years ago. “We had about 100 plots. They were sold to a mixture of individuals, families, schools and businesses.”
“We want to thank the city and Brightline,” Stewart-Harfmann said. “They’ve both been wonderful to work with.”
By Marci Shatzman
