SOUTH SALT LAKE — Mistaking pepper plants for weeds probably should not rank as a monumental event in the life of a gardener.
Yet for Michael Lostra, that initial attempt at helping in a neighborhood community garden started what has become his personal hobby. It also helped start an activity that has brightened empty lots along his street, provided food for residents of the lower-income neighborhood and fostered trust among neighbors.
"At first, I weeded a lot of pepper plants, but I just kept working and asking questions," Lostra said. "At the end of the year, I had learned enough to start helping others."
Lostra did not work the community garden alone. During its first year of existence, more than 30 neighbors of all ages helped plant seeds, weed and harvest the vegetables. Like Lostra, some worked throughout the summer, jumping at every opportunity to get their hands dirty.
"I would come in for a few hours in the afternoon, before I went to work," he said. "Each night, I just felt rejuvenated."
The community garden, 1150 Plymouth Ave. (3750 South), actually started as an idea in the summer of 1998 because of an empty field next to the apartment complex where Lostra lives. The field often had numerous stray cats, trash and vagrants.
Hoping to improve the neighborhood, Shane Siwik — who was elected to the South Salt Lake City Council last year — attempted to work out a deal to plant vegetables in the lot. Although a deal for the field never came to fruition, the idea stuck with Siwik, and he decided to convert the two lots around his house from a small family garden into a larger community garden.
Opening his land to his neighbors as a garden had little to do with actual gardening, however. Instead, by starting something with minimal cost, he could offer it to the residents without charge. Also, because most people enjoy the basic tenet of gardening (digging in the dirt), he felt that he could convince people to help, and thereby strengthen the bonds within the neighborhood.
"There are so many benefits to having a community garden," Siwik said. "It can involve the youth, it can help reduce crime, and it really adds to the beauty of the area."
Additionally, most of the vegetables harvested from the garden stayed in the neighborhood. After the harvest, Siwik said, the gardeners took the fresh vegetables to many of their neighbors, some of whom live on government assistance and receive donations from the food bank.
Now, Siwik hopes to expand the community garden idea to other areas of South Salt Lake and has presented proposals to the City Council. Although the council has not approved the proposal, members have expressed interest in possibly funding a small trial project.
Community gardens have already taken hold in some major urban centers such as Atlanta and San Francisco. In those cities, the government-funded or privately funded gardens will often sprout behind housing projects or inner-city areas where crime rates run high.
Because of the success of those programs, the United States Department of Agriculture appointed a coordinator in each state to help develop community gardens earlier this year. For Heather Rasband, the Utah coordinator, the first project she visited was the Plymouth Avenue garden.
The best part about community gardens, Rasband said, is the low overhead required. Many gardens come about like Siwik's, where somebody essentially donates the land. Many nurseries are willing to provide the plants, especially the seasonal plants they know are overstocked, and most tools will also be donated. In fact, Rasband said, for many gardens, the only cost is the water, which can be about $100 for an average-size garden.
Because of those slight expenditures, Rasband pitches community gardens as a way to clean up neighborhoods and improve the quality of life for those involved. More than anything, the key to a successful garden, she said, is the attitude of the people working.
"A lot of communities decided they did not want a community garden," she said, "they wanted to have a gardening community."
E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com