Inspired resident pitches new community garden plan for Plain Township's Al Leno Park

PLAIN TWP. − A new community garden is expected to make its debut at Al Leno Park by mid-May.

Kaylah Shaheen, 31, inspired by the community gardens in nearby North Canton, pitched the idea last year to Rob Steinberg, the township's parks director. She set up a meeting with Steinberg in the park and explained her vision.

With Shaheen, a gardening enthusiast, willing to volunteer to oversee the fledgling project, Steinberg and the township trustees quickly gave the idea their blessing.

"She had some great ideas. She had some research done. And she really came up with a good plan," said Steinberg. “We’re excited about it. ... From an aesthetics standpoint it’s almost an immediate return.”

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Shaheen said the area was overgrown with weeds and a nuisance for the parks crew to maintain. 'I asked, 'So can we just start over?' And he said, 'Let’s do it.'”

Plain Township community garden initial plans

The township has set aside the former site of the sensory garden at Al Leno Park by its playground for the community garden, which will start at about 768 square feet. The garden will have 24 4-by-4-foot plots and 12 4-by-8-foot plots available on a first-come, first-served basis. The park formerly known as Alpine Park is near Oakwood Square and Easton Street NW via Pinetree Avenue NE.

The township has paid about $2,000 for materials for wooden planting boxes and fresh top soil.

Steinberg said it is too costly to maintain the sensory garden, which gradually died off during the pandemic.

Steinberg and Shaheen hope members of the public soon apply to grow vegetables, flowers or fruits in a plot assigned to them.

The application form, which includes detailed terms, is on the township's website. It will be an organic garden where chemical fertilizers and pesticides will not be permitted. The rent will be $15 a year for a smaller plot or $25 a year for the larger ones.

Gardeners have to water and weed at least once every 10 days or arrange for someone to do so or risk losing the plot to another tenant. Nothing illegal can be planted such as invasive plants or marijuana, which even under Issue 2 can't be planted in public places.

Water will be available from the nearby park restroom. Gardeners will have to provide their own seeds, fledgling plants, tools and supplies.

Shaheen is seeking to recruit volunteers to help weed and till the soil, possibly on Earth Day, to prepare for initial plantings around Mother's Day. Students in Chance Bricker's construction trades class at GlenOak High assembled the planter boxes, which are made from pre-treated wood.

The organizers are hoping park visitors and surveillance cameras will deter vandalism and vegetable theft.

North Canton's community gardens growing

Related: Community garden takes root in North Canton

Shaheen, a mother of two sons, found out about the concept at the North Canton Farmer's Market last year. One of the North Canton gardens' organizers, Sue Hicks, attended the farmer's market to spread the word about community gardens. However, all the plots at the North Canton garden sites were occupied with a waiting list.

Shaheen didn't want to wait. She and her husband Alex Shaheen, an athletic trainer at GlenOak, were visiting Al Leno Park when Alex proposed a community garden at the site. His wife immediately ran with the idea.

“I think that allows a lot of people who don't have an opportunity to garden in their backyard or they live in an apartment or they’re looking for the community feel," Kaylah Shaheen said. "This is something that’s just pulling the community together and hopefully hosting some events where people can meet with each other and share the passion whether it's vegetables and flowers."

Shaheen said she has her own backyard garden. Her parents had a garden when she was growing up. Her grandmother still has a garden.

Hicks accepted Shaheen's invitation to meet with her at Al Leno Park and give her some pointers.

The North Canton garden organizer said she and two other residents founded the inaugural site in 2017 on Hillcrest Avenue SW by North Canton Middle School with the district's permission. They founded a second one at the Zion Lutheran Church on Lindy Lane NW in 2021.

The organization now has 24 plots each at their two sites rented for $25 a year. And the gardens have dedicated plots that grow vegetables for the church's food pantry.

Hicks said she had a garden on her parents' property. But they moved, so she lost her gardening space, motivating her to set up a community garden with the help of classes at the Ohio State University Extension Office in Massillon. The North Canton Lions Club provided some funds for the organizers to buy seeds.

"It’s always been our mission. It was to make a space for people who ... don’t know how to garden. They don't have space for a garden. Our mission was to have a garden in every neighborhood run by the neighborhood," Hicks said. "You have absolutely brand new people and you have people who’ve been gardening for 30 years."

Shaheen said township employees will soon remove rocks and the now non-functional fountain on the planned community garden site by the playground. The plots will have a gravel path in between them.

Shaheen sees initial gardeners growing cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes from plants that last one season and possibly asparagus and fruits that can be harvested from plants over multiple years.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Community garden coming to Plain Township's Al Leno Park