Knight Mike Royce and the gardeners at the Knights of Columbus on North German Church Road have had a busy season, not only with gardening but with politics, too.

Since early spring, they’ve been involved with a zoning and property dispute with their neighbor. The farmer just behind the gardens has been stockpiling wood and mulch materials on what turned out to be Knights of Columbus property. Dealing with property lines, variances and neighborhood disputes is often an aspect of community gardening that goes unnoticed (unless you happen to be the one dealing with the problem!).

Resolving the property issue as well as the violation of zoning variances turned into a summer project when the lawyer failed to produce results and members began attending hearings downtown themselves. Hopefully this issue wil be resolved soon. Mike has high hopes that the property at the back of the gardens will be planted this fall with two each of 21 different kinds of trees indigenous to Indiana. The trees would not only make a great screen but also serve as an educational resource. This would definitely be a wonderful service to the community!

The twelve or so K of C families that garden the very large plots here also regularly donate their excess produce to local food banks.