Work begins next month on urban gardens in C.R.

CEDAR RAPIDS - Work is about to begin to turn two acres of empty lots where demolished homes once stood into a series of urban gardens.

The Matthew 25 non-profit group plans an urban garden complex as the first step of what's called the Ellis Urban Village. It's located along F Avenue and Fourth Street NW in the Time Check neighborhood.

An open house to show off design concepts for the gardens is planned for 11 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Matthew 25 offices, 225 K Ave. NW.

Dale McBurney lives next door to the urban garden plots and grew some vegetables in the ground after a neighbor's home was demolished. He's a fan of the proposal and said the nutrients left behind by floodwaters should make the area good for garden produce.

“One of my wife's rose plants was dying - she thought it had had it. But after the flood the thing came back and was growing like crazy,” he said.

Organizers hope that proves true for all the urban garden land, because the project will work on a subscription basis. People can buy a summer's worth of fresh vegetables for an upfront $400 payment. Those living in the flood zones of the Time Check and Taylor Elementary School neighborhoods can buy a share for half price.

Matt Mayer of Matthew 25 said the group envisions enough produce to take care of 25 subscribers for most of the summer.

“We'll definitely give people their money's worth. It averages $20 a week - unless you're a neighbor, then it's $10. Our goal is to give you about 50 percent more (worth of produce) than that,” Mayer said.

A group of 10 AmeriCorps Vista service workers will start digging the initial layout on March 10.