You don’t have to feel alone or intimated to start a garden.
In Costa Mesa, there’s a group of people who are willing to share their knowledge.
The Hamilton Garden, located in an unsuspecting area of dense housing, is providing a space for people to gather and work together in nature.
The Costa Mesa Community Garden Program was developed to provide gardeners the opportunity to actively grow food, flowers, and plants for their personal enjoyment.
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Both gardens have water service, a portable toilet, a trash dumpster and are managed by two city employees, Jose Magana and Jennifer Mistofsky.
Mistofsky, the newest employee at the city’s community garden, enjoys discussing her passion for gardening and the benefits of community gardens. She highlights the camaraderie, health benefits, and organic practices that foster friendships and wellness.
“I think it is, within the whole phrase itself, a community garden. There’s a lot of camaraderie that happens here, a lot of support that’s garnered because you are all having a shared passion,” said Mistofsky. “A lot of relationships are built and I’ve seen a lot of friendships start. It’s a beautiful, beautiful opportunity for people to get involved.”
Mistofsky advises beginners to start small and not be intimidated, suggesting container gardening as an affordable option. She values the learning experience from other gardeners and the opportunity to participate in pilot programs, emphasizing the wealth of knowledge shared among gardeners.
“The best part about working here is how much I’ve learned, because the gardeners here are amazing. They are a wealth of knowledge,” said Mistofsky. “You’ll see over at Del Mar, we’ve been doing a pilot program in the raised garden beds. One of the gardeners, from [the Hamilton Garden] garden, goes over there and helps us… Just what I’ve learned personally, oh my gosh, it’s been so fun.”
Magana and Mistofsky host community service work parties every month to work on common areas and complete tasks like weeding and garden upkeep. Each member is required to attend two work parties per year to complete a total of four community service hours in the common areas.
Asia Rikard, a Costa Mesa resident for five years, recently joined the Hamilton’s community garden after a four-year wait. Inspired by her gardening background from growing up in Oregon and her father’s landscaping, she started her garden in June.
Rikard currently lives in an apartment and doesn’t have the opportunity for a yard to grow a garden of her own at this magnitude. Rikard values the community aspect, the connection to the earth, and the opportunity to grow her own food. She shares a fond memory of making homemade pickles from cucumbers given by another gardener.
“I think there’s so many benefits of the garden. Number one is being able to bring community members together. I would have never met these people in any other circumstance,” said Rikard. “I do think that there’s something about getting into the dirt, getting your hands dirty, growing your own food and getting back to the source of where it comes from that is really important.”
Another newly added gardener, Anella Rangel, has had her garden plot at the Del Mar garden since mid-June and waited almost four years to secure it. She was inspired by her love of nature and the desire to garden with her niece and nephew.
Anela’s most memorable experience in the garden so far has been the community aspect and sharing knowledge with neighbors. Rangel’s advice for new gardeners is to simply start and learn as they go.
“Jump in and just do it,” said Rangel, “because you’ll learn along the way.”
The gardens are composed of both new and seasoned gardeners with some people owning their parcel for more than 10 years.
Sue Swarth has had her garden for approximately 8 years after she was inspired by her previous garden in Orange. Being visually impaired, Swarth gains additional help managing her garden with those surrounding her. Swarth specifically credits others in the garden as “master gardeners” with a wealth of knowledge to share with each other.
“There are plenty of people that will help, so you don’t have to be an expert at anything,” said Swarth.
Each garden has a personality of its own that reflects the nature of those that manage it.
Stella and Trevor Harrison garden together as husband and wife and attend the work parties together. Stella Harrison is particularly proud of her garden and the fence that her husband created for her out of recycled materials.
With compost provided by the city, gardeners are also allowed to have a small section in their garden for personal composting if they would like. Garden members are expected in their code of conduct to conserve water and keep the garden organic by not using synthetic pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers or herbicides.
Costa Mesa has two community gardens with plots available for Costa Mesa residents to rent. Del Mar garden is currently composed of 57 parcels and the Hamilton garden has 42 parcels at approximately 13 feet by 15 feet.
Regular garden inspections by Mistofsky and Magana are conducted in both gardens to ensure that members are following proper protocols and allow for new members to be taken off the waitlist from those that are terminated from the garden.
To be placed on the garden waitlist for a garden, Costa Mesa residents must email cmgardens@costamesaca.gov with the required information that is listed on their website.
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