Adrian at one of his garden plots
Adrian started gardening when he was three. He is four now, and one of Growing Together Virginia Community Gardens’ most avid gardeners. The folks who rent gardens from Growing Together range in age from four to eighty-four, and they’re ready to harvest this year’s abundance. Adrian tends two full plots and, according to his parents, has absolutely fallen in love with gardening. One of his garden beds sprouted volunteer sunflowers and dill this year—both attractive to pollinators. He will add milkweed to that bed next year to attract even more bees and butterflies and benefit the entire garden site.
Northside raised bed gardens
Growing Together maintains four large garden sites on city property: Bailey Lake Garden between Pohaki Lumber and Laurentian Manor, Northside Garden in Jefferson Park on 13th Street North, Washington Manor, and Pine Mill Court children’s garden. Bailey Lake and Pine Mill Court offer in-ground garden plots and Northside, Washington Manor, and a portion of Bailey Lake offer raised bed gardening. The program, in its seventh year, is administered by the Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability with funding from Essentia Health. Additional funding through the Community Development Block Grant program has assisted with the children’s garden for the past two years. The city of Virginia mows the areas around the gardens and fills the water tanks when needed.
Growing Together’s Bailey Lake Gardens
This year, a special grant from Essentia Health for the L’il Gard’ners program made it possible for Growing Together’s coordinator, Lori Schiebe, to teach two local Head Start classes all about seeds, plants, and soil and where food comes from. They learned in the classroom January through April and have had access to the children’s garden this summer. And for the past two years, Community Development Block Grant funding has paid for a gardener at the Pine Mill Court children’s garden and the nearby AEOA Food Forest.
Adrian’s veggie garden plot
Adrian visits his garden plots every day and loves to eat what he grows. Most gardeners are there frequently, weeding and watering and now harvesting. Most everyone grows tomatoes, but there are plenty of green beans, broccoli, potatoes, squash, cabbage, carrots, peppers, herbs, and sweet corn. Gardeners share and trade their produce and most also can, freeze and ferment portions of their harvest. Volunteer managers oversee the garden sites: John Cope at Bailey’s, Lori Schiebe at Northside and Washington Manor, and Dana Mitchell at Pine Mill Court children’s’ garden. Lori serves as Growing Together Coordinator and manages all the administrative tasks as well as garden maintenance, water management, and gardener support. Ed and Zac Topping have built all the raised beds and regularly supply the compost as well as moving soil when fresh deliveries of black dirt are applied. Lori visits each garden site regularly and knows most of the gardeners well.
Gardeners pay rent on a sliding fee scale. Seasonal fees vary from $20 to $30 and depend on a gardener’s self-reported ability to pay. Several beds are also donated to group homes and similar programs. Overall, community gardens are a win-win. See Gardenpals.com for a detailed summary of relevant research. Here are some highlights. Research shows that community gardens actually raise the property values of the homes located around them by almost ten percent! Of course, they also increase vegetable consumption. A Canadian study finds that the average yield of a community garden plot is 3.15 pounds per eleven square feet. That means that a four-by-ten raised bed plot at northside yields, on average, eleven and one-half pounds of produce. The United States Department of Agriculture found that each dollar invested in a community garden yields six dollars’ worth of produce. Not a bad deal since gardening also provides exercise and fresh air. (https://gardenpals.com/community-garden/#:~:text=Community%20gardens%20have%20a%20positive,benefits%2C%20and%20to%20enjoy%20nature).
Washington Manor raised beds
In Virginia, we’ve noticed that community gardens also build community. Gardeners get to know each other, help each other, and share produce as well as gardening tips. Young children like Adrian and the children visiting the Pine Mill Court children’s garden are learning valuable food self-sufficiency skills. Older folks like the seniors gardening at Washington Manor are enjoying the fresh air, exercise, and of course, the harvest. And all the gardeners between four and eighty-four are enjoying fresh produce with it health benefits. To reserve a plot for next summer, email growingtogethervirginia@gmail.com or message Growing Together Virginia Community Gardens on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/growingtogethervirginia
