What a gorgeous day to tour some of the
local community gardens in our area on Saturday ! We ran out of time before
we could see all of the gardens. There was so much to see and talk
about.
The garden that wins the prize for
best effect for a new garden is the Amos Garden off of Meridian St.
The apartment manger Patricia read an article in the
Huntsville Times about gardens and their effect on communities and
was inspired to begin a Community garden at the AMOS Apartments at
Winchester and Meridian St. Tired of seeing her tenants walk to the
corner convenience store she decided to try to develop a garden in
the middle of the complex.
The vision came alive with the effort of Randall and other folks who live in the Apartment complex as well as
several volunteers over the last 4 months. County Commissioner
Harrison, Willie McCrary and Jeff Komara of Deep Roots have been
instrumental in helping this project move forward so quickly. There
are now 30 boxes on site. The layout of the garden is quite striking
and the arrangement could work in other areas as well.
As we parked, the first sight and most
lasting impression was the children playing in the garden sand box set
up in the garden proper. The children even did a bug
hunt for us as we were trying to find a specific insect in the corn
patch. The effects of the new garden are just beginning to take hold; Walter, a 3 year resident of the complex, told us “ The garden is
beautiful to look at, it is unique and is to be found nowhere else in
the city. The garden is bringing the apartment community together, we
are watching out for each other more than ever.”
Patricia sees economic development
from the effort as well. Over time as the group's skills improve they
want to sell food to local restaurants. It is important to remember
for all of us that a new farmer, sub acre or larger isn't just a job
but an enterprise. The opportunity for those who work hard and smart
to grow themselves into a better life is available here and in other
community gardens.
One of Patricia's major goals is for
people to want to live at her apartment complex not simply because of
the low rent, but because of all the the facility offers it's
residents. They want to excel at helping people help themselves.
We started our tour this morning at
the Howe Avenue Community Garden. Wow. If you want to see how
prolific an organic vegetable garden can be, visit this garden soon.
A core group of 8 folks led by Lee Ellenberg and Marion Moore and
including Clint Patterson, Lisa Gardner, Lori Pence, Allison, and “J”.
“J” is the old man here although
he is young at heart. Being around the energy and enthusiasm of the
twenty somethings invigorates “J”. Allison simply loves
gardening, she lives in an apartment near the garden and this site
provides her with the opportunity to grow enough food for her use,
but to give to others and even the opportunity to sell at a farmers
market if she and the other members choose too. They will certainly
have surplus too sell.
The Howe Garden is an excellent
example of proper soil preparation with amendments such as leaf mold
added in large quantities. The group has used cardboard to hold down
weeds in the rows. Using fish emulsion and Worm Casting Tea made by
the brew-master Clint, the garden is jumping with vibrant, pest and
disease free plants loaded with food.
Next we visited the Monte Sano
Community Garden. K.T. Bothwell and her sister Maggie spearheaded
this garden's jump start last year. K.T. and the garden group have
done a text book job in acquiring access to the property and
setting up a first class garden that contributes aesthetically to the
community it serves. Monte Sano gardeners rent their box for the
season and have “ownership” of that box as long as they take care
of it. All gardeners are expected to work together to take care of the
big chores such as hauling leaf mold and spreading wood chips. Miss
Christine Donley has found that organic gardening is just as easy and
productive as using conventional techniques.
Christine particularly enjoys the
camaraderie with the other ladies at the garden as they teach and
help each other become better gardeners. Elsie enjoys trying new
things if a particular plant doesn't work out it is OK just add a
little compost try something else in it's place. Pat McMillion who
does such a great job as the Herb lady at Burritt takes care of the
herb box at the front of the garden which for the use of the
community.
Next stop was in Artisans Cove. The
new farmers market was well attended by farmers such as Champion
farms and Isom's (the peaches looked fantastic). The farmers market is
a needed resource for those east of the mountain. Kristin is the
farmers market manager and is working hard to create a viable
thriving market for the Hampton Cove community.
Marguerite McClintock the owner of
Artisans Cove has a vision for the educational community garden.
Marguerite wants children to learn how to grow food sustainably,
using a variety of techniques from organic in-ground techniques to
hydroponics and aquaponics as well. Bringing in the business aspect
is important as well, teaching kids the value of work and it's
rewards. Children will learn to grow food, prepare it for sale, and
learn to set up and sell food from a direct market booth. Successful
future Small Plot Intensive Farmers may one day grow from the seeds
Marguerite is planting today.
Across the street, literally, at
Hampton Cove Middle School, hidden behind the North West corner of
the building is an educational garden of amazing potential. Melissa
Schneider has taken over the green house and the immediate surround
of raised beds and is working hard to bring a productive garden to
reality. Middle schoolers were able to grow cabbages and other plants
this school year in the green house and the goal for 2012 -2013 is to
have a crop with each season for a continual harvest. Melissa and
school officials want the community and particularly parents to be
involved as well. There are garden and landscape projects that need
many hands to turn the effort into light work for all involved.
Pecan Grove - If you have never had the pleasure of
meeting Mr. Bill Thomas you should drive out to Pecan Grove Rd and
see Bill and the community garden he is nurturing. If you live in
the area and have a shaded yard or live in an apartment complex, or
if you simply want to garden with a community of folks Bill has a
spot of land with your name on it waiting.
Alice Evans who started the Tennessee
Valley Community Garden Associaion with other gardeners, has a fine garden coming on here. There is room for you and this group is
a lot of fun, they also have some excellent technical advisers,
including retired agriculture professors from Alabama A&M
available to help you learn to contribute to your own food supply.
Bill says “the time to start growing is now, learn what real food
is all about. “
After dropping off one of our party
who had to go back to work we traveled over to UAH to see the
community garden the students are growing near the maintenance
headquarters. Claire Herdy found that today’s tour was very helpful
in that several really good gardeners visited and gave excellent
advice and growing tips to some of the student gardeners. Claire and
the crew have a very nice garden growing in the middle of a Bermuda
field. They are doing a great job of beating the demon weed back and
have some beautiful produce growing on.
They are about to be over run with
tomatoes. Claire came up with idea with Marion from the Howe Ave.
garden to have several tomato / produce canning days. Everyone bring
their tomatoes and cans and pressure cookers and knock out some
serious food preservation. If this is of interest to you you can
leave a message on the TVCGA facebook page or call Alice Evans. There
will be a TVCGA meeting open to the public June 25
th at
the extension office on Cook Ave. The meeting starts at 6 o’clock
sharp.
Regrettably we did not have time to
visit the Asbury garden that Mary Lynn Botts and the Asbury church
community are doing such a great job with in serving others through
their garden. The tour hours were gone before we could visit the
Legacy Elementary School Projecct Pond garden in Harvest or the city sponsored garden at
Lewter park (that is just fabulous).
Our last stop was at the CASA garden,
probably the oldest continuous community garden in the state, certainly in this area. Everything was growing on and looked great.
The CASA garden is unique in that all of the food is grown by
volunteers and is given to home bound seniors in Madison county on a
rotating basis. Karen Voelker, the queen of the garden, was giving
the grand tour ( this is a BIG garden ) to visitors as we arrived
after 3 o’clock. Karen enthusiasm and dedication to providing
nutrition to those who need it most are what keeps the CASA garden
improving year over year. If you would like to see what a masterpiece community garden looks like when it has matured, visit the
CASA garden on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons or Saturdays from 8-
12. This is learn by doing experimental garden. Come learn about
rotation and companion planting while you weed a row for the less
fortunate.
All of the gardens on the tour today
want you to know where they are in your neighborhood. Several have
open spots waiting for you to grow food for yourself and your family.
Several gardens are totally volunteer run and supported and they need
your help NOW. The summer harvest season is upon us, it can be very
difficult to harvest and keep up with the regular garden chores.
Consider committing to a garden for the summer, this summer.
Thanks to all of the participating
gardens in the 1st annual tour of Community gardens. The
energy, enthusiasm, and talent among these folks is prodigious and
contagious. The growth of gardening in all its manifestation has been
exponential in this area over the last several years and will
continue to grow in the future. If you want to learn more about
gardening in your area check out the Tennessee Valley community
gardens facebook page or try to attend the meeting on the 25th.
Well done, to all of the gardens, well
done indeed!
