Volunteers working with the community garden going in at 29th Street and Q Avenue behind San Juan Lanes are accepting rental applications for about a dozen 10-foot-by-24-foot plots for 2009.

They are asking anyone interested to have their application in by Friday.

The garden will be completed by the end of May though gardeners with assigned plots will be able to begin planting before then.

A ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for June 6.

Full-sized plots will rent for $45 per year and half plots for $25 per year. The half plots will be 10-feet-by-11-feet after they are divided and a 2-foot path is put in down the middle. Financial assistance is available for those who need help.

Applications are available at Ace Hardware, the Anacortes Department of Parks and Recreation office and at http://www.cityofanacortes.org/Parks/CommunityGarden/index.htm along with additional information about the garden and gardeners’ rights and responsibilities.

The plots will be assigned beginning Sunday with the first choice going to gardeners who have put in time building the garden. If there are more applications than plots, the group will draw names to assign them.

Payment should be made within a week of notification of plot assignments.

The Anacortes Community Garden is a cooperative effort between the city of Anacortes and Skagit Beat the Heat, a local nonprofit organization.