Windsor's Town Green gardens ready to grow

<p>There's a little touch of Eden in downtown Windsor where a communal garden is blooming after the soggy spring.</p><p>The morning fog lifted and the sun finally was shining Wednesday as Windsor Garden Club President Thomas Eddy walked among large planter boxes beginning to deliver a bounty of fruits and vegetables.</p><p>“We're looking forward to great weather, so the garden can actually grow,” said Eddy.</p><p>Butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and lady bugs have found the 5,000-square-foot organic garden, as well as a smaller nearby demonstration garden where they perform a symbiotic dance of pollination and natural pest control.</p><p>A growing number of Windsor residents also have discovered the community garden, which until a couple years ago was a vacant lot between Town Hall and a row of Town Green homes.</p><p>The garden recently doubled in size to 70 plots, most of which are tended by nearby residents eager to put fresh produce on their table, or grow it for a local food pantry.</p><p>“All but six or seven are reserved,” Eddy said of the plots. “It's been quite a hit.”</p><p>The town owns the land, but made it available two years ago for a garden, which was built mostly with volunteer labor and donations of materials.</p><p>An annual fee of $30 or $50 — depending on plot size — supplies water, which comes from a unique, solar-powered drip irrigation system.</p><p>Eddy noted that June 5-11 is National Garden Week, which is not intended to just develop more gardens.</p><p>“The intent is to remind people where their food comes from and how to enjoy the outdoors through gardening,” he said.</p><p>Nearby, Kathy Lane and Alan Lemery tended their zucchinis, not the average type, but Costata Romanesca.</p><p>“They're really so much more flavorful than regular zucchini,” said Lane, a retired teacher.</p><p>“We eat a lot during the summer and give a lot away. We stir fry it with olive oil and onion,” said Lemery, who likes to stuff them with sausage and bread crumbs.</p><p>Angelita Llerena, another retired teacher who goes almost daily to tend the garden, was headed out with a basket of freshly harvested Swiss chard and red onions.</p><p>“I could have let them linger. But I need them for dinner,” she said, exclaiming “I can't wait for my garlic!”</p><p>The Windsor Garden Club has a recipe book, “Delicious,” now headed for its second printing, with plenty of suggestions on how to enjoy nature's bounty. It includes recipes from high-profile chefs such as Guy Fieri and John Ash.</p><p>Eddy said it's been satisfying to see the growing success of the community venture.</p><p>“California is one of the few Mediterranean climates in the world. For us to be trapped inside seems like a waste of quality of life. Our goal is to get people outdoors and enjoy,” he said.</p><p>More information on the garden is available at 838-5947 or www.telcs.com/cgarden.</p>