A combined effort between volunteers, nonprofits, the city results in the opening of Buellton Community Garden
A previously vacant lot, located at the corner of Central Avenue and 2nd Street in Buellton, now promises to be the hub of activity, thanks to a gardener with a vision and a number of organizers and volunteers. Oh, and a little bit of help from the city.
The nonprofit Buellton Community Garden (BCG), more than five years in the making, hosted an official kickoff at the lot located a block west of Avenue of Flags on Saturday, Sept. 7. Artist Annie Yakutis and her husband, Greg Erickson, hosted the reception, which included such local luminaries as County Supervisor Joan Hartmann, and Mayor Dave King, City Councilmembers Elysia Lewis and David Silva, and City Manager Scott Wolfe from Buellton.
“It’s been a great turnout,” Annie said. “This is an exciting moment, we’re meeting each other [volunteers] for the first time, pretty much.” Yakutis said. “This is very much promoting an in-person kind of activity — it’s not virtual.
“But I’m the most excited about, in the future, seeing more people here all the time.”
The Buellton Community Garden (BCG) has 46 gardening beds available, with a handful already reserved. Two of the beds are ADA-compliant. While Buellton residents will have first dibs on securing a garden bed, anyone is welcome to apply.
The seeds of a local community garden were planted after Yakutis and Erickson moved to Buellton in 2010. An artist and Master Gardener, Yakutis slowly restored the native habitat alongside the leased industrial space she used for a studio, transforming the space into a lush
— albeit diminutive — habitat for birds, bees and butterflies as well as a lovely, shady spot to sit.
As the pandemic took shape in early 2020, Yakutis took “long, meandering walks” around town, picking up trash and scrutinizing the various gardens — noticing what vegetables, fruits, and flowers thrived and what struggled.
“Eventually, I started taking longer walks and bike rides to find other ‘garden’ spots,” Yakutis said. “And I came upon one at a home in the Zaca Creek area, and they had these beautiful hollyhocks, and somehow that gave me the idea to pursue this project.”
By November 2020, Yakutis built a small shade structure behind their industrial building and started a native plant propagation project for her own Guerilla Gardens. Noey Turk of Yes Yes Nursery mentored her. By March of 2021, Yakutis was a regular attendee at the city’s Green Team meetings, had connected with potential collaborators and had developed renderings of her vision for the garden.
In April 2021, Yakutis presented her concept for the city’s Second and Central site to the Buellton City Council and received unanimous support. After a few more steps taken, the City Council voted in October 2022 to allow the BCG to use the lot and have water for 10 years.
Mayor King, who would later say a few words during the public address at the event, praised the garden, calling it”awesome.”
“I remember being shown this vacant lot that was owned by the city, and thinking ‘what the heck are we going to do with this,'” King said. “I mean it was an eyesore, and it was empty for a long time.
“But then they came to us with this project, and I told them that was perfect. I go to other places, and I see community gardens, and I think ‘there you go, people using a little land to benefit the entire community.”
Yakutis said the project really picked up in the past year when Erickson became president of the BCG board.
Greg Erickson said he had left his career in homebuilding and was looking for something to do.
“I always felt the community needed … something,” he said. “There was something I could do, I didn’t know what, but then this garden came along.”
Then, attending one of the board meetings for the garden, Erickson decided to get more involved.
“I went to the one of the first board meetings, and everybody had ideas of how to get the paperwork done, but nobody knew how to build it,” he said. “So I told Annie I’d be glad to get involved in the project if I could design it, and it was a done deal.”
Yanukis also wanted to credit the City of Buellton, the Arts and Culture Committee, the Chumash Foundation, Central Coast Agriculture, Gracie Foundation, and Lois and Steve Craig for their help throughout the project. Many small plaques are on the fence around the garden from people who took part in the fence panel donation drive.
Now that the garden is ready to go, Erickson has big plans.
“People are reserving their plots here, but my wife and I are going to keep a couple of them community, and when that’sharvested, we’ll have a table out front to put them on, and people in the neighborhood can take what they want,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of tomatoes, we’re going to have peppers. Melons. Watermelons. Zucchinis are out of control; we have to harvest the zucchinis all the time.” Erickson also pointed out a currently empty fences that will be a”berry wall,” for, you guessed it, berries.
One other thing Erickson wants for this garden is for it to be a vehicle to bring people together.
“We’ve been polarized in society, with the elections and all that, and I think this is the perfect venue,” he said.
For more information on the garden, go to buelltongarden.org/ or
