Design

I've admired this church garden before. Last summer, this congregation tilled up large strips of their front lawn to grow vegetables for a local food bank (probably Manna Food Bank, a significant regional provider to food banks in the mountains and the piedmont of North and South Carolina).  This season, they're doing it again, with the addition of herb beds and potatoes. Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church vegetable garden (Asheville, NC) It's also encouraging to see even more vegetable beds popping up in sunny spots this season (in front yards, especially). Hmm, I'm seeing in my linking to a former post that I may not have got the congregation right in my post last year.  Regardless, thanks for their efforts to provide fresh food to folks in need.

When I'm away (from our garden), I always enjoy looking at other people's gardens (front yard, back yard, vegetable gardens, raised beds, fruit trees, etc.) Fortunately, where we stay in the mountains, there are lots of observations to be had. This house is nearby, one of the lovely historic homes in the Montford Historic District of Asheville. Some of the large historic houses have lovely gardens. This rose arbor caught my attention. The roses were small, but very striking on the arbor! In a growing time of the year, I'm (VERY) easily encouraged into thinking and musing about plants and growing things, if something catches my attention. I admired plants in a local community garden (Pearson Community Garden), said hello to the first person that I've seen tending things so far, but we didn't strike up a conversation, as that didn't seem like what he was interested in. But I hope to find out w hat the scheme is there, eventually!

Away for the weekend, my only gardening observations were at a local community garden. Under hoop house cover, purple mustard, lettuces, different sorts of kale, and collards were growing well. And this is in the mountains of North Carolina. In the prepared rows, there were emerging garlic leaves, cover crops ready to turn under, and row markers waiting for spring. And, unfortunately, my camera wasn't along with us.

About a hundred yards away from the edge of a new development nearby -- through a woods edge full of muscadine and poison ivy -- is quite a different sight. In an old city recreation park (the ball fields were moved to a larger park elsewhere), community garden plots have been available to residents for an annual fee. There are about 12 of them -- very generously sized and provided, at least in this initial phase, with tilling, water, planting advice, and soaker hoses. I think this is the 3rd season of the program and every plot is currently taken. I dropped by this afternoon, and several of the plot holders were harvesting tomatoes, okra, beet greens, and tidying and tending their plots. This is something that I'd like to see a lot more here!