A vacant lot on Fort Street between 11th and 12th streets has been getting a little love this spring, and the green sprouts in the garden are showing.

"This is awesome," said James Cruz, who was pulling weeds in 95-degree heat.

His two daughters with a few other kids from the neighborhood darted back and forth in the sprinklers watering the potatoes.

The community garden in Boise's North End is one of several offering a chance for city residents to grow their own food and bond with their neighbors.

So far, the community gardens are all on private property - but that could change soon. The city would like to see a community garden be part of the proposed Terry Day Park, a 7-acre site near Kootenai Street and Federal Way on the Bench.

The city owns a number of undeveloped properties that would work for community gardens, but none of them have gone through yet, said Jerry Pugh, volunteer coordinator for Boise Parks and Recreation.

"We don't have the staff to provide day-to-day oversight of a garden," he said. "We need folks who are pretty gung ho."

Folks like Allison Demarest, who started working on the idea of a community garden before she even picked a location.

She got a group of interested gardeners together, collected donations and nurtured the enthusiasm.

"We're disconnected from our neighbors, from our food, from our earth," Demarest said. "A project like this helps make the connections."

In March, she approached Cathedral of the Rockies, which owns the lot on Fort Street, with a plan.

"We said absolutely," said the Rev. Sandi McFadden. "Everyone said, 'We don't want to rent the land, we want her to have it. Everyday, it's incredible what I'm seeing."

The shed and the 20 raised beds were built as part of an Eagle Scout project. There are six other circular beds.

"United Water donated all the water for the project," Demarest said. "Without that, we'd be in a sticky spot."

A-1 Plumbing installed a hydrant so gardeners would have access to the water, Demarest said.

Anyone can garden. Volunteers typically give 3 to 5 hours a week and maintain the 3/4-acre plot together. They receive a portion of the harvest every week.

"I thought it was a great idea," said Marissa Baker. "I like having my kids come out and be part of the community. They've had the time of their lives out here."

A PARTNERSHIP LIVES IN THE SUNSET DISTRICT

The Sunset-Collister Community Garden is a collaboration between the Boise Christian Retirement Home on North 36th Street and gardeners from the Sunset-Collister Neighborhood Association.

This is the garden's third season.

"During the gas crisis, it hit me: I want to grow food. It's what I can do to reduce my carbon footprint," said Sherilyn Orr, president of the Sunset-Collister Neighborhood Association and a community gardener. "I didn't know anybody in my neighborhood until I did this."

The retirement home donated the land and water for the garden for seven years, Orr said. The gardeners give back fresh vegetables.

"We harvest twice a week and try to fill up their fridge (each time)," Orr said. Garden members share the rest.

The community garden has 13 working members who paid $50 for the year and are expected to contribute five hours a week in labor. The two supporting members paid $200 and don't have to do anything.

"That allows us to buy a new pump, fencing, tomato cages," Orr said.

This year, the gardeners are experimenting with a satellite farm at one member's home, where Hopi blue corn and pumpkins have been planted. That member will work the plot but share the harvest from both gardens with other members.

"We've had so much interest. That's how we think we can grow," Orr said. "Our garden might be slated (for housing developments). We don't want to wake up in seven years and have nothing."

REFUGEE GARDENS SPRINGING UP ALL OVER

The Idaho Office for Refugees operates seven community gardens, six in Boise and one in Eagle, that serve the refugee population, said agriculture coordinator Katie Painter.

The first ones started in 2004, with two thoughts in mind: The first was to set up the older refugees, who came from areas where agricultural lifestyles were typical and who now live in apartments and sit inside a lot, Painter said.

The second was to help the Somali Bantus, who came to Boise with some health problems, have access to healthy food.

"They grow quite a few ethnic crops," Painter said.

This year, the office added two new gardens, she said.

Near another apartment complex that houses refugees, the Jordan Street Community Garden is in its first year.

"Everything has come from donations" - compost, rototillers, seeds and tools, said Shana Foster, former Veterans Park Neighborhood Association president and garden coordinator. "Our donations have been insane."

Foster organized the garden with members of the refugee community, who had expressed an interest in having a community garden.

"I lived in the neighborhood for 10 years, and I never thought I could go to that apartment complex because I don't speak the language," Foster said. "Now I know everybody."

Among the many donors, Sally McMinn lent the vacant land and pays for the flood irrigation. Idaho Power employees paid for a storage shed.

On the first work day in May, the people who showed up got to decide how the garden would work. They each wanted their own plot.

Twelve families are working on plots, and there's a children's garden.

"We thought we'd build the framework and show the city that it can be run by volunteers," said Foster, who controls the irrigation and picks up trash. "I don't even have a plot at this garden, but I'm there just about every night because it's so fun. "

Bethann Stewart: 377-6393