Business fizzles but a garden grows

The Farmington field was supposed to sprout townhouses.

But with no housing market to speak of, and with an abundance of empty lots, builder Stephen Ayers needed a Plan B.

So, together with his neighbors in the townhouse development he has built as owner of CreekStone Partners, Ayers has turned a vacant lot on Dawson Lane into a community garden.

"That way we can say our business is growing," Ayers said with a laugh.

Growth of any sort has been hard for home builders to come by. In Farmington as elsewhere, houses built two or three years ago dot a landscape of vacant lots and open fields. Some sit unoccupied. And chunks of open property once destined for development now feature "For Sale" signs.

Ayers' own Dawson Meadows project, started in 2006, saw four buildings, each with four townhouses, completed before the market tanked. His original plan called for 10 buildings, and he still envisions them being built -- someday -- all along half-moon Dawson Drive.

Until then, however, something had to be done about the open lots. And since the grow-your-own-food craze has swept the nation, even garnering a White House endorsement, a garden seemed like the answer.

"Lemonade," he quipped.

Ayers, who lives in one of the townhouses on Dawson Lane, said he doesn't know of other builders who are putting gardens in vacant lots. The Builders Association of the Twin Cities wasn't aware of any, either, though there is a dog park on a developer-owned lot in Minneapolis.

"It's a great idea and I hope more pick up on it," said Wendy Danks, a spokeswoman for the builders association.

In Farmington, nearly all the neighborhood's residents, mostly empty nesters, jumped on board when Ayers pitched the idea of a community garden at a homeowners' association meeting in February or March. So he rented a tractor and plowed up an area the size of two townhouses. He tapped an underground irrigation system to put in a water spout and gathered a supply of tools for everyone to use.

Now there's some friendly neighborhood competition to see who has the tidiest garden and the tastiest crops.

The neighbors have gotten to know each other as they work in the garden, often in the evening and on weekends. Many moved into the townhouses to downsize and leave yard work behind after their children left, but the garden gives them something outdoors to fiddle with.

"Sometimes you move into town homes and you think that's one piece you're going to be giving up," Tim Wagner said.

The families are just weeks away from "a great salad," Tim Wagner said. Their crop includes carrots, lettuce, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes.

The neighbors all realize that one day the garden will succumb to more townhouses, but Wagner said, "For now, it's a great use of the land."

Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056