The Two Rivers Gardening Program that was started this year will be sticking around for at least another year.
The City Council voted six to one Monday (December 18th) to extend the pilot program into December 31st, 2024.
Council Member Darla LeClaire, who’s been a prominent supporter of the program, says the program has support from the public and read a letter of support from someone who believes in the right to grow their own food.
“The commercialized produce is changing drastically by engineering, not only that the pesticides used to grow them are becoming a problem,” the letter explained. “I feel it is our right to grow our own vegetables on our property within reason.”
LeClaire says she wants to get grants for the program so people who want to participate will be able to get money and supplies to build the garden they want.
With the pilot program’s success, it’s gotten attention at the state level, with State Assemblyman Shae Sortwell of Two Rivers and State Senator Andre Jacque of De Pere co-writing a bill to allow residents to have the right to grow their own food anywhere in the state.
Two Rivers Council Member Bonnie Shimulunas voted against continuing the program because she has some issues with some of the rules of the program.
