Ready for a new growing season at a new location, First Selectman Pat Llodra is among the many Victory Garden volunteers eager to get her hands back in the soil.

“There is a beauty to it, not just the work, but who benefits,” Mrs Llodra said. The garden, which started last year under resident Harvey Pessin’s direction, is intended to supply the town’s food pantries with fresh produce.

The Victory Garden, now located near old tennis courts in Fairfield Hills and directly across from Reed Intermediate School, will move to a spot between Cochran House and Glander baseball field. A pavilion is nearby, and both water and electricity are available at that site.

The garden’s 2011 site has been identified as an ideal location for the Newtown Ambulance Corps’ new facility, for which members are currently planning and fundraising. Mrs Llodra said, “We’re feeling confident that is where it’s going to be.”

Parks and Recreation Director Amy Mangold also supports a garden that provides fresh food to the town’s pantries. “That’s what it is all about,” she said. Her crews will play a large part in establishing the garden in its new location this season.

Mrs Llodra said, “We’re absolutely committed to this project.” She wanted to find a good spot for the garden “where it will not have to move for the foreseeable future.”

Regardless of when the ambulance facility breaks ground, the garden would need to move anyway, she said, “So we’ll do it this year.”

She said of the new site, “It’s a nice location.” The nearby pavilion offers a bit of shade for gardeners, good soil, and is “pretty visible,” Mrs Llodra said. Residents attending baseball games, using the hiking trail also located there, or visiting Fairfield Hills to walk their dog can easily pass by the garden.

“People will happen upon it and hopefully help out,” she said. The first selectman also hopes that the more visible location will “help maintain a level of interest in that project.”

Holding up a small sign and post with her row’s name, “A Long Row To Hoe,” Mrs Llodra said, “I am ready to stick my sign in the ground.”

However, as many discovered last year, maintaining a row in the garden “is a commitment, and it’s good to have a team.”

Gardening is also a “feel good” experience, she said. “There is nothing more humbling than weeding and watering a garden, and it reconnects us to the soil.”

Ms Mangold is also excited that the garden is going to start again this year.