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Middletown residents who are having trouble getting tomatoes to grow may want to consider moving their gardens to a sunnier spot – at the Middletown Valley Community Garden Association's community garden space in Wiles Branch Park.

The garden is located on the south side of Alt. U.S. Route 40 between Creamery Row and Brookridge South, and can be used by any Middletown resident. The association has a set of rules for gardeners to follow, but generally, growers may plant anything they wish there.

The association raises money to pay for the costs associated with garden with fundraisers. They have sold Christmas ornaments, held yard sales and recently published and sold a cookbook of recipes from Middletown residents.

"The town only has so much money to put any gardens in or anything of that sort of nature," said Pam Dietrick, president of the association. "It costs money. It's better if somebody like ourselves earn the money and put the gardens in."

The association wants to give Middletown residents the opportunity to plant gardens, and provide an outlet for children to learn the ins and outs of gardening, especially if they don't have space in their own yards. To get children more involved, the group has added a "pizza garden" this year, where children will be able to learn the basics of gardening while planting ingredients associated with making pizza.

Adults and children interested in using garden space should contact the association through its Web site, www.mvcga.com.

"Our motto is bringing people and nature closer together," Dietrick said. "[There was] nothing like that here in Middletown, where kids can go and learn how to take care of plants. It's something different than sitting at home playing video games."

The pizza gardens will grow tomatoes, garlic, red onions, peppers and eggplant, and herbs such as oregano, parsley and rosemary. Dietrick said response to the pizza garden has exceeded the group's expectations.

"We had to ask for a second pizza garden because we knew it was getting full too quickly," she said.

Members of the group are seeding plants now in their homes to make the planting process easier for the children. They'll be able to plant the vegetables and spices and see results faster this way.

And while the community gardens aren't certified organic, the association encourages its users to avoid pesticides in favor of more natural solutions.

"We do as much as we can, nature wise," Dietrick said. "We can't be an organic yet, it takes at least three years. We encourage no pesticides, and we're hoping to plant, if we have room to seed them, marigolds, that bring good bugs, to eat bad bugs."

"All of us that are on the organization love [gardening]," she said. "You have to, to do something like this."

The program also gives Middletown residents the opportunity to garden, even if they don't have the proper amount of sunlight or space in their yard to plant one.

"I always have a garden, but the last two years haven't been very good years for my garden, I thought maybe I don't have sun anymore," said Beth Scott, a first-time community gardener.

Scott said she plans to plant tomatoes, cucumber and green peppers in the space provided to her in the community garden.

"When I used to have a large garden, I would do canning," she said. "My favorite thing, if the cucumbers and peppers cooperate, is bread and butter pickles. That's why I grow those two things, other than fresh."

Because she and her daughter, Lindsay Scott, have neighboring plots, she also hopes to be able to plant some items that need larger space, such as pumpkins and squash.

"I love fresh produce," Scott said. "I have trouble buying tomatoes in the winter. There's something about a homegrown tomato. I'm looking forward to it. I think it's a great program."

E-mail Tripp Laino at tlaino@gazette.net.