Angelique Moser studied the page on which she’d scribbled the plan for her plot at Auburn Community Garden.

Best to start, Moser said, with your cool weather crops such as onions, radishes, carrots and lettuce. The summer vegetables can wait.

As Moser raked, fellow gardeners steered wheelbarrows down the rows between the plots, spicing the air with the rich, funky odor of compost.

“I’ve worked with some pretty poor stuff in the past,” said Moser. “This is some of the best soil I’ve ever worked with.”

Moser was one of dozens who showed up early Saturday morning as Auburn Community Garden opened at its new site at 1030 8th St. NE, at the site of the old White River bed behind Fulmer Field.

For years, the City of Auburn leased land west of the 15th Street Northeast Park-and-Ride from Sound Transit, which it then rented to residents for a fee as pea patches.

In the spring of 2008, however, Sound Transit announced it wanted to sell the property, and the Auburn Arts, Parks and Recreation Department began scouting out new locales.

Bringing the site up to snuff took a lot of grading and prep work by many city employees. The Auburn Youth Council did its part by collecting and painting wheelbarrows. The Youth Council will also raise vegetables for the Auburn Food Bank.

Gardeners lease a 10-by-20-foot garden plot at a cost of $20 to Auburn residents and $25 to non-residents.

While there are 21 more spaces than at the former site, the tradeoff is that each is half the size. The city allows gardeners up to three plots.

Jim Westhusing, youth coordinator for Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation, noted the advantages to finally having the garden on city-owned land.

“Now we have the opportunity to think about a year-round garden. We don’t know yet about the rainy season, so that’s under consideration,” Westhusing said.

Westhusing hopes the community will be a good partner and keep an eye on things.

“We hope that people will respect it,” Westhusing said.

The gardeners are happy to have it.

“I’ve been waiting to plant in a garden,” said Auburn’s Yvonne Hopkins. “We’ve got some beans, potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes eventually. This is our third year. What we don’t eat, we give to some of the elderly near us.”

“I have corn, peas, lettuce, radishes, beans, green peppers and cucumbers,” said Erica Covey, as she set weed blocks between her rows. “We travel a lot, so I can’t come down here and weed it all the time.”

“That was one of the things when I looked to find a place to live was that they would have a community garden, and here it is,” Moser said. “And it’s great. The whole idea of bringing together people who not only share a love of gardening and being outdoors is amazing, but there’s something else. We’ve been hearing a lot about sustainability lately. If we are able to grow things and share them with others, that’s a very good thing.”

The Auburn Parks, Arts and Recreation Department processed the applications, assigned the plots, initially tilled the site and provides water access. Gardeners are responsible for cultivating, weeding, fertilizing, watering and other care of their patches.

Westhusing said that Parks, Arts and Recreation encourages a chemical-free, green environment. In addition, it encourages community gardeners to donate any extra produce to the Auburn Food Bank. The Auburn Youth Council is volunteering to help gardeners harvest or deliver produce to the food bank.

For more information about the garden or other Parks, Arts and Recreation activities and programs, call (253) 931-3043 or visit www.auburnwa.gov.

The growing season ends Oct. 11.