Perry Village is preparing for another season of planting at its community garden in Lee Lydic Park. Village Councilman Mike Glover provided a couple of updates on the garden during council’s March 13 meeting. Village resident Denny Shimko “graciously volunteered to rototill the garden again thi s year,” Glover said. “He usually does it as early as he can, but definitely by May 1,”  said Glover, who also serves as chairman of the village Parks Committee. This year, the garden will be divided into 12 plots for individual growers, Glover said. Some of the plots are 20 feet by 20 feet, and others measure 10 feet by 20 feet, he noted. In 2024, Perry Village decided to make eight 20-by-20-foot plots available in the garden. All of those tracts were claimed by gardeners, and three people had to be turned away, Glover said during a 2024 council meeting. By giving people the option to choose 20-by-20 or 10-by-20 plots, additional spaces were created in the garden to accommodate more growers, Glover said at a council meeting in January. This is the fifth year of the community garden at Lee Lydic Park, 3954 Call Road. In 2021, Perry Village decided to develop the garden on the site of a sand volleyball court that received little use. Plans for the garden stemmed from discussions during which the village Parks Committee considered additional ways for residents to enjoy Lee Lydic Park. Mike Glover and his wife, Lee Glover, are both members of that committee and played a major role in proposing the garden to council and Mayor James Gessic. When Perry Village put out an invitation to claim spaces for the inaugural community garden in 2021, only four people responded. However, in 2024, Mike Glover said he and his wife acknowledged that interest in the garden might increase gradually. “We figured it was going to take about three years to really know where this thing is going,” he said. Items grown in the community garden over the years have included green beans, jalapeno and sweet peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, kale, Swiss chard, watermelon, pumpkins, artichokes, peas and Brussels sprouts. ...read more read less