Don't Have a Garden Spot? Sign up for a Community Garden Plot April 26.

The Haines Community Garden is located in an extraordinarily sunny spot at the Southeast Alaska State Fairgrounds. This year Katheleen Menke is organizing users. She sent me this announcement today and asked that I post it. So here goes:

There are still spaces - small, medium, and large - available for the 2008 Community Garden. The next sign up meeting for garden spaces will be Saturday, April 26, at 1 PM, at the Community Garden. Spaces are available on a first come, first serve basis. There is a $10 deposit and a plot rental fee - from $4 to $20+ depending on the size of the plot. New and returning gardeners are welcome. Assigned spaces and open spaces are posted at the Garden. Visitors and volunteers are welcome anytime. For more information, call 766-3517. You can also be added to the email list for periodic notices and updates by contacting Kathleen Menke, ci@akmk.com.

In case the Community Garden can't provide enough space for your growing enterprise, consider becoming a "yard farmer." Mike Denker sent me a link this morning to a Wall Street Journal article by Kelly K. Spors: Green Acres II: When Neighbors Become Farmers. Kip Nash of Boulder, CO, is a "yard farmer." He convinced his neighbors to let him turn their lawns into lettuce - or tomatoes, or bok choy, or garlic, or beets.

Between May and September, he gives weekly bagfuls of fresh-picked vegetables and herbs to people here who have bought "shares" of his farming operation. Neighbors who lend their yards to the effort are paid in free produce and yard work.

Mr. Nash works two jobs. Most of us do - two or even more. He is a school bus driver. So he is supplementing his income with yard farming. Think about it. You might be able to feed yourself AND turn dill into dollars using your plot at the Community Garden or by striking a bargain with your neighbor - land for lettuce. In fact, lawn owners who would like to cut less grass and eat more broccoli just might want to contact the Community Garden organizer and let her know that they would welcome overflow gardeners seeking plots.