Community garden at Robb Field?

An unremarkable dirt lot at the extreme northwest edge of Robb Field could make a dandy place for people who want to grow their own vegetables if an Ocean Beach man has his way.

Just south of the Ocean Beach Bike Path at the ¼-mile marker, the piece of ground is probably the least fertile-looking patch in the entire park. But the city has confirmed it just might have the makings of a community garden, said Charles Cairns at the monthly meeting of the Ocean Beach Town Council board of directors March 27.

Cairns said he's researching the process for siting a community garden on city land. Two years ago, the city passed an ordinance to relax urban agriculture restrictions, and Parks and Recreation now recognizes community gardens as a park use and has been developing a set of instructions which appear on the department's website.

Cairns described himself as a home gardener who, even after turning to hydroponics, ran out of room to grow vegetables and found out the Ocean Beach Community Garden near Collier Park has a chronic waiting list. He said Clay Bingham, the deputy director of community parks for the region, told him the Robb Field site was appropriate and available.

A sign on a chain-link fence that separates the plot from adjacent apartments and warns not to park between 2-4 a.m. offers the only clue that the lot is indeed parkland. Its only apparent use is overflow parking for huge events at Robb Field.

The effort is extremely preliminary, but his interactions with the city thus far have been “very complete, very encouraging,” Cairns said.