FAIRHOPE, Ala. - Fairhope now has two community gardens.

The second one, located downtown behind the K Center on Summit Street, was completed last week and still has a few 4-by-12-foot plots available. But they’re expected to lease soon.

“We expect these plots to fill up quickly because it’s a higher profile,” said Jo Ann Wettlaufer. “There’s a waiting list at the Homestead Village garden.”

Wettlaufer is community garden coordinator for Local Foods Production Initiative, the Fairhope-based nonprofit which led the way for community gardens in Fairhope.

It has not always been an easy row to hoe.

Although the current downtown site was not their first choice, they adapted their plans after opposition surfaced to a Stimpson Field site, and then located a garden at Homestead Village. The success of that project led to the construction of the new downtown site near the campus of the University of South Alabama Baldwin County.

“More people pass by this garden than the other one, and we’re starting to get street interest,” Wettlaufer said. “We’ve had many compliments, even from people who wouldn’t be particularly interested in a garden plot. They’re excited about having this kind of project in their community in Fairhope.”

The community garden effort is one of the major projects of LFPI, which formed in Fairhope a few years ago. The group was organized to educate the public about the advantages and opportunities for consuming locally grown food, as well as encouraging the production of more locally produced food.

The group has also published a Directory of Local Food Sources, available on its website, and has encouraged the expansion of the city’s farmer market, which reopens next Thursday behind the public library.

“We’re grateful to the city and to the county board of education for their assistance,” Wettlaufer said. “The school board provided the land, and the city has given us water sources, did some landscaping, and will fence the site.”

Funds for the construction of both community gardens in Fairhope were made available through a grant from the Gulf Coast Resource Conservation and Development Council, she said.

The next LFPI meeting is 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 16, at the Homestead Village ballroom.

For more information or a garden plot application, visit the group’s website at fairhopelocalfood.org.