Nahant explores idea of community garden

NAHANT – A community garden and municipal tree nursery is something at least one town official would like to see spring up in town.Nahant Town Administrator Mark Cullinan said in tough economic times it’s important to take time to think about what can be done to improve the quality of life in the community.”We’re always talking about making cuts and what we can’t do,” he said. “This is something that could be done at little or no cost.” Cullinan, who said his idea is still in formative stages, has discussed the idea with the Open Space Committee and has received a positive response.”We could try to get some high school students involved,” he said. “We could also work with My Brothers Table (a Lynn soup kitchen) or a food bank.”Cullinan said there are several areas in town that could be looked at as potential sites for a community garden, including the lowlands, a portion of the Nahant Country Club grounds and East Point.”We haven’t even really begun the process,” he said. “But of course we need to find a site with good soil conditions. We do have a lot of compost at the compost area that could be made workable for a garden.”Cullinan said he would like to see the town develop its own tree nursery as well. He pointed out the town is preparing to launch a comprehensive inventory of public trees in town this spring.Cullinan said trees in town would be listed on the town GIS system. He said when the project is complete people would be able to go online and reference information about the trees in town.”A tree nursery would go nicely with the inventory project,” he said. “As we inventory trees we will learn what trees may need to be replaced in the future and we could start growing replacements. We would also have our own stock of shade trees.”Cullinan said the town would be looking for volunteers this spring to assist with data entry for the tree inventory project and it is also compiling a list of people interested in a community garden.Anyone who would like to put their name on either list should contact Town Hall at 781-581-9927.