A community garden may be coming to Antioch

If everything goes according to plan, Antioch residents will have the opportunity to work in a village garden by spring 2012.

Officials with the environmental commission are working through a proposal to potentially bring a community garden to a village-owned plot somewhere in Antioch, village Trustee Scott Pierce said.

The garden idea is definitely in its infant stage, Pierce said, but the plan is to have residents interested in gardening be able to work on plots in one centralized location and raise vegetables, flowers, or other crops.

The basic idea would have the village supply the land and any water needed to keep the garden growing, he said.

“Residents, though, would tend to the garden and purchase anything they need for it,” he said. “We do have land available for it. The expensive problem will be bringing a water supply to wherever the garden is located.”

Pierce, who serves as the liaison between the environmental commission and the village board, also said it hasn’t been decided how people would sign up to reserve space in the garden, and whether the village will charge a host fee for garden use.

“It’s going to take about a year to get everything together, researched, then brought before the board,” he said. “Right now, we are researching what other communities are doing and going from there.”

Similar community gardens have sprouted in recent years in Round Lake, Avon Township, Round Lake Park, the College of Lake County in Grayslake, and Libertyville.

“I think it’s a great idea for the village,” Pierce said. “We supply the land and the water, and residents care for it. It’s just a matter of getting everything in place to make sure we can get it done.”