Vera House Community Garden
The Vera House Community Garden is an organic garden with 11
individual plots and a communal herb plot. It is located on
the corner of 34th and North Mountain View. It is sponsored
by the Normal Heights Community Development Corporation and
plots are open to residents in the larger Normal Heights
community. Priority is given to residents within the immediate
neighborhood and then to residents in the larger Normal Heights
community. If plots are still available, residents of nearby
communities can join. Each gardener is assigned a plot that
is about 10' by 20' and
pays $25.00 every six months.
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History
The Vera House Community Garden was created from the separate visions
of two women, both long term residents of Normal Heights. Fran Wilcox
organized the first community gardens in Normal Heights on Bonnie Court
in the 1970's and the Children's Garden at Adams Elementary School in
the 1980's. The Bonnie Court garden closed when construction on
Interstate 15 began and the Children's Garden closed after about six
years of operation.
Undaunted, Fran, joined by Lois Miller, (both were active in the NHCDC)
began looking for another site. They found the empty, weed-filled lot
at the corner of North Mountain View and 34th and in 1992 advertised
for gardeners. A neighbor helped clear the lot and dug trenches for the
irrigation system with his back-hoe. A fence went up, plots were laid
out, and the garden was a reality. The garden is dedicated to the
memory of Vera House who had lived across the street from this lot and
had long envisioned a garden there. It was Vera House's vision that
inspired her neighbor, Lois Miller, to join Fran Wilcox in establishing
the garden. Three of her daughters have gardened there, including
one who is presently a member.
-- Contributed by Katherine Rotherham
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