ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Six years after its humble beginnings on less than an acre of ground at the University of Georgia, a small community garden known as UGArden has blossomed into a much larger endeavor.
“It’s become so much bigger than any of us expected,” said Shannon Wilder, director of the UGA Office of Service Learning.
The original plan was not much more than having three garden plots in rotation, tended by about two dozen students in what is now the UGArden Club, The Athens Banner-Herald reported (https://bit.ly/29SQTzF ).
“Then we started teaching a class in sustainable community food production,” UGA horticulture professor David Berle said.
Soon, another class followed.
When the garden was first being discussed, Berle had come across the students’ plans online, and things began to fall into place. The UGArden would fit perfectly into a grant proposal on sustainable food systems Berle was putting together, and horticulture department head Doug Bailey was an enthusiastic backer right way, the Athens newspaper reported.
Before long the garden began sprouting on about 3/4 of an acre.
Many other people from the community began getting involved, such as members of Athens Area Master Gardens and interested people like Maize Loo, who began a medicinal herb garden soon after the UGArden began. She and other volunteers dry the herbs, then package them in a variety of combinations to be used as herb teas, some soothing, some anti-allergen, some with other properties.
Graduate student (now UGA materials reuse coordinator) Chris McDowell pitched in, bringing his program of recycling used building materials to build raised garden beds and other structures for the garden - even a small greenhouse made of recycled lumber.
Now, UGArden has grown into closer to five acres, some in lush cultivation of tomatoes, peppers, squash, asparagus, cabbage and other vegetables at any given time, some resting and rejuvenating under cover crops, protected by a high fence - donated - to keep hungry deer out.
One small plot is faithfully tended by families home-schooling their children. Nearby grow fruit trees and bushes - the UGArden had a good blueberry crop this year, Berle said.
The garden’s lessons are also taking root in some of the area’s middle schools.
Clarke Middle School is one of three places where anyone can buy produce from the UGArden - Monday evenings from 4 to 6:30 p.m. They sell more of their produce at a mid-day market at the Athens Community Council on Aging on Wednesdays, and on Thursdays at 4 p.m. at Coile Middle School near Winterville.
___
Information from: Athens Banner-Herald, https://www.onlineathens.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.