ROCKPORT — Love to garden or want to learn to garden but find working at ground level troublesome? Maine Coast Heritage Trust staff and volunteers are constructing several taller raised beds at their Erickson Fields Preserve on Route 90 and making them available to local residents.

Made from locally-milled wood and filled with rich soil, they are available and ready for immediate planting, as are several more of the traditional ground level garden spots.

Aaron Englander, farm and program manager at Erickson, said in a news release that after his first full year with MCHT, he has appreciated how Aldermere Farm has been a community resource for such a wide diverse group of people and they are working to develop Erickson in the same manner.

“At Erickson, we involve youth ages six to 12 in our Kids Can Grow program, teens from 14 to 18 on our Teen Ag Crew and we are developing a “wellness trail” on the property for all ages. The raised beds just seemed like a great idea to accommodate those who would otherwise be unable to garden,” Englander said in the release.

Anyone interested in either a tall raised bed or a traditional garden spot should contact Englander at 236-2739 or aenglander@mcht.org.

The Erickson garden sites are part of the 93 acre preserve that was purchased and protected in 2009 with broad community support. Maine Coast Heritage Trust is dedicated to protecting land that is essential to the character of Maine and to the health of coastal communities.