Community garden grows

For cancer survivor Elena Caballero, gardening is like therapy.

“You have no idea how much it helps me,” she said Saturday at the grand-opening celebration for the Monterey Road Eco-Community Garden, which city officials called the first step toward bringing many more community-run gardens to the city.

Caballero, a first-time gardener, proudly showed off tomatoes, peppers, flowers and fresh herbs — the results of several months of hard work. She is one of 24 residents who fill the garden’s 20 wooden plots with a variety of flowers and produce, from sunflowers and miniature roses to giant yellow squash and basil.

About 100 city officials and community members — many who arrived by foot or bike — came out Saturday morning to 870 Monterey Road to celebrate the garden’s opening, which marked more than a year of planning and implementation since the garden was approved by the City Council late last year.

Mayor Frank Quintero, Councilman John Drayman and Councilman Ara Najarian said they are working to bring several more community gardens to the city.

“This is just part one,” Drayman said.

The garden was the brainchild of local nonprofit Coalition for a Green Glendale, which also serves as its operator. The coalition was founded in December 2007 and aims to promote environmental sustainability.

Garen Nadir, the coalition’s co-founder, said it was an inspiration to see how “a barren and deserted piece of land” could be transformed into a nature sanctuary.

In addition to the 20 gardening plots, the site features fruit trees, a display of California-friendly landscaping, a bird bath, composting bins and a bicycle rack. It is also the first community garden in the state to use only recycled water.

Eleanor Wacker, chair of the city’s Committee for a Clean and Beautiful Glendale, which supported the project, thanked the coalition for bringing the city a “wonderful gem.”

“It is truly a wonderful transformation,” she said.

Many in attendance said the project’s value reaches beyond encouraging sustainable living. The garden, they said, also encourages community interaction.

“It is our hope that it will become a haven where neighbors come together,” Nadir said.

Home gardener Bonnie Rasic came to the opening hoping to pick up some tips.

“It’s been fun to watch this evolve,” she said. She stopped and admired Caballero’s garden, which featured many plants native to her home country of Peru.

Caballero had previously tried to grow huacatay, or Amazon black mint, in her apartment, but it would die from lack of sun. At the Monterey Road garden, it is thriving. Becoming a part of the garden awakened a new passion within her, she said.

“I am having one of the best times of my life,” she said. “When I am gardening, I feel relaxed and blessed.”