Gardeners sow the seeds of plants, but also the spirit of generosity, at the Winterville Community Garden.
Founded in 2013 and located near Pittard Park in Winterville, the garden is a city-sponsored space for people to rent beds of compost and soil mix for growing produce.
“There’s definitely some people who have been gardening since they were a little kid, and they’re in their 70s (now), and then there’s folks who come in here, and this is really their first gardening experience,” chairperson Alex Lawrence said.
Gardeners pay for 8-by-4-foot beds and bring their own seeds, but the garden provides a drip irrigation system, tools and compost, while also acting as a resource for gardeners of all experience levels to learn and share.
“We kind of provide the infrastructure, and the community is a huge resource, the knowledge of the people around you,” Lawrence said.
The land for the garden was provided by an initial grant from the city. Since then, dues from gardeners have sustained other resources, like tools and organic pest control.
Beds cost $40 and are rented by the year from March to February. Lawrence said the garden slows down during the winter, but growing is still possible.
“The winter garden is pretty different, just in the scale of how fast things grow and what will grow,” Lawrence said. “But people do get a lot out of it if they put in the time. (It depends on) if you take good care of it and have good luck.”
Lawrence said the garden has a workday on the last Saturday of each month for gardeners to come together and learn from each other.
While each gardener is responsible for their own bed, they can also choose to work on community resources, like beds dedicated to food bank donations.
The Community Garden makes weekly donations to the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank and the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia during the growing season from those beds.
“Food banks often use a lot of food that’s canned or boxed and dried,” Athens Area Emergency Food Bank Director Kim Easterling Ramos said. “We do try to have it more well-rounded, and having the fresh stuff come from gardeners is a huge help. Our neighbors that come access help here love fresh produce.”
Residents can gain access to the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank through the Oglethorpe County Department of Family and Children’s Services, Ramos said.
“It probably warms some hearts to know that their labor and care to the garden is helping some folks who have it a little worse off than they do,” Ramos said.
This year, the garden has four beds dedicated to the food bank. Lawrence said some gardeners also offer produce from their personal beds to the resource.
“It’s just such a cool thing,” Lawrence said. “A lot of people get a lot of food out of it, they get community out of it, it brings people joy. … It’s kind of a special place, and I just want to help it continue.”
