newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2009/0826/front_page/029.htmlWomen win ribbons for new garden's gifts
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
Antonia Sanz
FREEHOLD — Turning a desert into a beautiful garden is no easy feat, but the proof is in the pudding as they say, and Antonia Sanz has that proof.
Earlier this year Sanz, of Holmes Terrace, signed up to take care of a plot of land in the new Freehold Borough Community Garden after her neighbor Casey Surgent told her about it. And Sanz and Surgent, working together, recently brought home ribbons from the Monmouth County Fair for their award-winning home-grown vegetables.
The community garden took root on a vacant piece of land on Ford Avenue. It was created through the efforts of the Freehold Borough Neighborhood Pride Committee (NPC) as a way of bringing residents together.
Freehold Borough Councilman Marc Le Vine said, "The real news here is that the ground, which was not well suited for growing anything really when we first took it over, ended up producing award-winning vegetables."
Le Vine said it took a great deal of effort to make that happen, including leaf mulching, roto-tilling and weeding to make the soil better suited for growing vegetables.
With some help from NPC member Dan Xavier's father in-law, who owns Quality Cut Landscaping in Farmingdale, the ground was prepared for planting.
"This is a huge accomplishment for the committee, not to mention the gardeners and Donna Koloski, who did all the work and made this happen," Le Vine said.
Koloski, who is a member of the NPC, first brought the idea of a community garden to the committee.
Le Vine said there are about 15 active garden plots right now with more people signing up for next year's community garden.
"In its first year with all the challenges the gardeners and committee members faced, they still managed to bring in a winner," said Le Vine, who is the Borough Council's liaison to the committee.
Sanz, who was born in Chile, said she inherited her green thumb from her mother, but she did not really get a chance to try out her knack for growing things until she moved from Queens, N.Y., to Freehold Borough four years ago.
She set up not one, but two gardens in her backyard where vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, zucchini, celery and eggplant are flourishing right now.
After Surgent told her about the town's community garden, Sanz was ready to take her talent for growing things to the new garden. Together they planted eggplant, green beans, peas, artichokes cabbage, tomatoes and peppers.
At the Monmouth County Fair, which was held in July at the East Freehold Showgrounds in Freehold Township, the women won first place for kale, first place for eggplant, second place for spaghetti squash and second place for jalapeno peppers.
One reason why Sanz purchased a community garden plot was to inspire people to eat healthy and to help show them how to do it by planting vegetables. She also wanted to be involved with the community.
Sanz, who works at Zebu Forno restaurant, Main Street, volunteers as an interpreter at the borough's Paul McGuire Family Health Care Center. She has also volunteered to read books in English and Spanish at the Carnegie Library.
Sanz and her husband, Adam Ranes, arranged a block party on Holmes Terrace last year and are planning another one this year. She is looking for other volunteer opportunities so that she may meet even more people in town.
Surgent, who is a member of the NPC, said although she is not new to the art of gardening, she is having a better time growing her produce in the community garden than she had in her backyard garden.
She said she was very excited to win the ribbons at the county fair.
"I was really happy for Antonia, too. This means so much to her," she said, adding that they came up with a plan that worked for them. "I'm the weeder, Antonia is the sower and we're both the reapers. Antonia is her own master gardener."
Surgent said it is easier to have a backyard garden than it is to be part of a community garden, but she said the idea of interacting with others while gardening is a good thing and motivational as well.
"It's like going to the gym, you know," she explained. "It's always easier when you go with someone else. And our community garden is in an ideal place, too. Plus, the bonus is that there is no worry about critters visiting like they did in my backyard."
Koloski said she's happy the women won the awards at the fair and happy with the way the community garden turned out.
"The soil is compacted and heavy and we are working on lightening it up for next year to make it more organic. It really produced beautifully, though," she said. "People are into it now and they are really enjoying it."
Koloski said a plot that is being cared for by the Master Gardeners is blooming with fresh vegetables that are delivered weekly to the Open Door food pantry in the borough.
"What I have come away with from this garden is that it was a wonderful learning experience. It was fun and very gratifying," she said.
