Located at the corner of Williams & Mercer Streets, in New London
The story of the CGC:
In early 2007 FRESH youth and adult staff together identified our need for a high profile, downtown New London garden to serve as FRESH’s home base. A city-owned site was identified across the street from the largest elementary school in New London (Jennings Elementary and caddy-corner from the only public Middle School in town. The FRESH Youth Crew led presentations of the project to the Neighborhood Alliance, the Parks Commission, the New London Senior Center, and finally to New London City Council. Ultimately we were given permission to establish the FRESH Community Garden Center (CGC). The hands of hundreds of community volunteers, staff and Youth Crew members have built and continue to transform this site from what was in 2007 a derelict and dangerous vacant lot into a vital and beautiful community space!
Since summer 2007, CGC has served as FRESH’s primary urban location for Education, Community Gardening and Celebration! The site includes sixty raised beds for Community Gardeners, as well as 45 raised beds used by the FRESH for Educational Programs and Food Production. In 2010, a permanent pavilion was constructed to provide shelter during workshop/workdays, classroom visits, potluck meals and other community events. The site also houses a wood-fired Pizza Oven built by a volunteer crew led by local mason Harld Hefel and a Children’s Wild Space play area built under the leadership of a FRESH college-intern named Kelvin Vu. Both projects were built with strong participation from New London youth working for the FRESH Crew.
NOTE: There are currently a limited number of beds available at the FRESH Community Garden Center- Corner of Williams and Mercer, New London.
Please call Emily at 860-501-3109