The brand new Carman Community Garden is off to a great start.

Pat Veldman is the spokesperson for the garden, located in the north end of the Industrial Park.

The idea for the community garden all started with the Evangelism Committee at her church. They were looking for a way to connect the community.

In October of last year, the group got a good response to a survey they sent out to the community. Now, the garden only has a few plots left.

"We will have 21 out of 24 plots rented, it's gone very well," said Veldman.

"The potatoes are in, onions are in, people are working," she said.

The group is also in the process of building the last raised flower bed.

"We're waiting on our fence posts, so that's the biggest project," Veldman said.

The group was also successful in applying for a grant, which they received in April.

"We received the Healthy Living Grant for $1,500 dollars, so that was really good. We had a private donation of $1,000 dollars, we are going to be putting out letters to some of the companies in the next week or so... just to cover the rest of the cost for the fencing."

Some tools were donated to the community garden as well. The 22 brand new tools came from a company in the Netherlands and have the garden's logo on them.

Veldman also noted the town is donating an old shed from the cemetery. Another donation came from Aubin Nurseries, which gifted the deer fencing for the garden.

Lastly, a local woman donated her tiller to be used for the garden, and it will be stored in the shed once it arrives.

"It's really been a community effort, it's been awesome," Veldman said.