Napa Community Garden

HOW WE STARTED

 

Three girlfriends met for coffee in the early spring of 2008 to talk about their shared dream of starting a community garden in the City of Napa.   They were all transplants from the East – Massachusetts, New York, Kentucky -- where each had experienced the pleasures of gardening within their community.  They were surprised to learn that Napa, famed for its agriculture, did not have a community garden.  Feeling a little homesick and perhaps a little disconnected, they decided that growing vegetables with new friends would be a good antidote.
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So Elizabeth Wroblicka, Carolyn Cromer, and BJ Pheiffer set about figuring out how to create a community garden.   The first order of business was to find some land.   Elizabeth placed an ad in the Napa Farm Bureau’s newsletter entitled “Looking for One Good Acre” and explaining that a group of volunteers wanted to start a community garden.  Their criteria were simple: the land needed to have a source of water, lots of sun, be visible from the road and easily accessible to the public.  It would be best if the land were located close to town and public transportation.  They wanted the garden to be an amenity for all Napa residents and not exclude anybody.