More than tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes are growing this summer at the Community Gardens in Bloomington.

More locals are giving a green thumbs-up to gardening in these shared spaces.

The proof is in the plot.

The number of tracts at the Willie Streeter spot in Winslow Woods Park has nearly doubled from 100 to 180.

PHOTO GALLERY: Willie Streeter gardens

MORE: Summer Garden Savers

And the popular program that provides a little slice of earth is expanding to another site on the city’s west side.

Butler Park Gardens will open next year after plenty of prep work this summer and fall. It will be a partnership with Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, a food pantry. In fact, all three of the city parks and recreation community gardens—Willie Streeter, Crestmont Community and Banneker—encourage people to “Plant a Row for the Hungry.” Worm’s Way, Hilltop Garden and Nature Center, Bloomingfoods Market & Deli, Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard and Hoosier Hills Food Bank also participate in the project that, in 2009, raised more than 30,000 pounds of fresh produce. All that bounty is handed out through the food bank.

Not a bad way to spend a summer day­—soaking up the outdoors while digging down in the dirt to produce healthful crops for yourself and others.

Now, that’s a community wellness and fitness plan.

It’s also affordable and accessible. Willie Streeter, named after an African-American social worker and avid gardener, features 10 raised beds for folks who prefer to garden without all that bending over.

The cost of your own little gardenstead? A raised bed, or one of 48 10-by-10 organic half-plots, runs $26 for in-city residents or $31 for outside. The registration fees total about $7,000 a year and cover maintenance. Like a good realtor, the parks department promises in the brochure: “We have a place for you.”

It’s the perfect solution for someone who lives in a dorm, apartment, rented house—or simply prefers having the infrastructure already provided.

For Bill Anderson, it’s a matter of sunshine. The 76-year-old lives in Spicewood where it’s too shaded to bring potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, carrots, herbs, peppers and beets to life. But it’s all possible inside his two adjacent 10-by-20 lots at Willie Streeter. He goes out two to three times a week. Anderson joined Community Gardens about 10 years ago.

City staff started pairing people like Anderson with garden plots back in 1984.

The partnership doesn’t end there. Gardeners receive an informative newsletter, “The Garden Beet,” access to tools, woodchips, hoses, water spickets, compost and fencing. Expert advice is also available from neighbors as well as the garden supervisor; there’s even out-of-the-dirt expertise with a listserv. Think of it as a fully-furnished apartment with handyman hours.

Walking through Willie Streeter on a recent afternoon, Bradley Drake is part groundskeeper, part proud parent. He’s just as quick to pluck off Japanese Beetles that munch on new, lush growth as he is to boast about the fruits (and veggies) of others’ labor.

Garden manager Drake, a program specialist with the city’s parks and recreation department, knows most of the gardeners and the crops they lovingly tend to, whether cucumbers growing up homemade contraptions or the squash from Africa in one plot.

Those who rent plots sign a contract pledging to maintain the area by keeping it weeded. Folks have freedom to grow what they want, but there a few restrictions on crops that are known to spread.

“Community is a big part of it,” Drake said during the tour. He figured the Willie Streeter area involves 350 people, and that’s not counting those who benefit from the “Plant a Row,” picked up each Wednesday evening.

Anderson said people share produce and plants with one another and even step in to help dust tomato plants and water if someone is on vacation. He’s also quick to compliment the staff out there. “Bradley is very friendly and very useful,” he said. “It’s a really good spot and a lot of really neat people that do gardens.”

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Pick Your Plot

Get the right size garden for your goals

Willie Streeter Community Gardens in Bloomington

Plot type Size Cost

68 organic 10X20 $52 in-city/$60 outside

48 organic 10X10 $26 in-city/$31 outside

54 conventional 10X20 $52 in-city/$60 outside

10 raised beds 4’X8’ X 2.5 $26 in-city/$31 outside

Plots open April 1 and close for the fall on Halloween.

For more information and other community gardens, contact

Bradley Drake at 812-349-3704 or drakeb@bloomington.in.gov