DeKalb parks will soon be growing gardens as part of a new Community Garden Program created by the county’s new advisory Green Commission.

The DeKalb Board of Commissioners approved a fee schedule for the gardens operation at its meeting on Tuesday.

The Green Commission, a diverse 20-member advisory body sponsored by DeKalb Commissioner Kathie Gannon and CEO Burrell Ellis, will show residents how to organize community gardens at a Jan. 30 workshop.

Individuals will work together in garden groups, which will apply to the county to use space in a park. Each garden group, which will manage its own plot, will pay a one-time non-refundable $200 deposit and $200 per year for a permit to operate a garden in a county park.

Ted Rhinehart, the county’s deputy chief operating officer, said the fees will cover minimal cost of ensuring water is available and functioning. Gardening groups will use metered taps and will be responsible for monthly water use.

Garden groups will provide documentation of insurance for members. The county’s legal department is reviewing form agreements for the program; the board authorized the CEO to execute necessary documents to establish the program.

The parks that will have gardens are countywide. Dave Butler, the county’s green space environment manager, told the Dec. 1 budget committee that the Parks and Recreation Department’s Community Garden Committee has identified about 45 parks as suitable for community gardens.

The list includes Biffle, Bouldercrest, Brook Run, Browns Mill, DeKalb Memorial, Flat Shoals Park, Forty Oaks, Glen Emerald, Hairston, Henderson, Lithonia, Lucious Sanders, Mason Mill, Medlock, Midway, Peters, Salem, SE Athletic, Stone-view, Tucker Recreation Center, Wesley Chapel, Cofer, Blackburn, Briarwood, Brookhaven, Bruce Street, Exchange, Fork Creek, Georgian Hills, Gresham, Hamilton, Avondale Dunaire, Longdale, Lynwood, Wonderland Gardens, Delano Line, NH Scott, Redan, Shoal Creek 1 and 2, Starmount-McAfee, Tobie Grant, Wade Walker and Zonolite. Some FEMA flood plain buyout lots administered by the Public Works Department also may be suitable for gardens.

He said fees paid to the county will help pay for the installation of a water line exclusive for the garden.

Each garden group will charge members a rental fee for use of assigned plots in their community garden. The garden may have 20 to 30 plots.

Butler said the Parks Department would determine how much land is set aside for the gardens but that most plots would be 4 feet by 10 feet. “Some parks may support more than one garden,” he said.

Butler said the community gardens initiative will be advertised in water bills and through neighborhood associations.

Gannon said there is a lot of interest in community gardens across the county and that the pilot garden at Brook Run Park has been very successful.

Commissioner Elaine Boyer said a group in Tucker wants to start a community garden.

Bob Lundsten, who helped establish the Dunwoody Community Garden in Brook Run Park last August, said the 8,000-square-foot garden includes 60 plots for lease and eight demonstration plots, maintained by the garden’s board of directors.

Each bed is 4 by 8 feet and most are raised beds. The garden has a 250-gallon water tank purchased from a pickle factory and a fence built by volunteers to keep out deer and rabbits. Produce from certain plots is donated to a nearby food bank.

“People enjoy the fellowship at the garden,” he said. Some people renting plots live in apartments or condos, he added.

Lundsten said there has been no vandalism at the garden.

The Green Commission has not yet identified the location for the Jan. 30 workshop, but Rita Morgan, Gannon’s executive assistant, said the free workshop, from 9 a.m. to noon, will cover the process for starting a community garden, composting and container gardening.

Representatives from Oakhurst and Belvedere Gardens are expected to discuss how to organize and maintain a community garden. A second panel on community-supported agriculture will include representatives from Harvest Gardens, Gaia Gardens, Wonderland Gardens and local farmers markets.  

There will be a discussion about community supported agriculture involving mini-cooperatives.