Harvest With a Heart - The Community Garden

(l-r) Lee County NRCS DC Jason Gardner, AL State Representative Mike Hubbard, AL Cooperative Extension System County Executive Coordinator Chuck Brown, AL Cooperative Extension System and Project Director Dani Carroll, and Lee County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Robert E. (Ed) Gullatte, Jr.

A Community Garden was started in 2005 on land provided by Auburn University and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station in Auburn, Alabama.  Grants from the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church and Mid-South Resource Conservation and Development Council allow volunteers, under the direction of Auburn University graduate student Mike Mulvaney, to grow produce that is distributed to emergency food pantries, senior centers, day cares, and other member agencies served by the East Alabama Food Bank.

The Mid-South RC&D grant provided a tool shed, gardening tools such as wheelbarrows, lumber, hammers, tents, irrigation equipment, shovels, trowels, gloves, seeds, plants and fertilizer.

Auburn University graduate student Mike Mulvaney, under the supervision of his major professor Wes Wood, is evaluating high biomass cover crops--Ethiopian sesame and Derry forage soybean, along with mulches like mimosa prunings, lespedeza cuttings, and wheat straw -- to find out what combinations best control weeds, preserve soil moisture, and contribute to the overall health of the soil, as well as collards.

"After two years of residue accumulation, we have virtually 100 percent ground cover, with about 6 inches of residue on the surface at various stages of decomposition," Mulvaney reports. It appears that straw is the most effective mulch for weed suppression and soil moisture retention. Nutrient release studies from the decomposing mulches and cover crops are currently underway.

The project is already producing benefits for low-income families through the Food Bank of East Alabama.  In 2006, 1,544 pounds of fresh, herbicide-free collards were donated to the food bank. In 2007, 2,167 pounds were distributed, just before Thanksgiving.

The spring garden produced 502 lbs of peppers, tomatoes, okra, pink eye purple hull peas, cucumbers, and pumpkins from the summer 2007 garden. An additional 541 lbs of mustard greens, turnip greens, and collards was donated from the Fall garden.  Another 860 lbs of greens were donated earlier this year.

Volunteers from churches, scouts, fraternities, and sororities come to weed, stake tomatoes, put down mulch--all the day-to-day maintenance a garden requires.

"The garden wouldn’t be possible if it weren't for the labor of these great volunteers," says Mulhaney, who has coordinated the garden since spring 2007. There were approximately a dozen volunteers for 2007, with about half of them coming from an undergraduate class on community activism, which has a focus on hunger in the community.

"The Food Bank and the garden were great venues for them," says Mulvaney. "Volunteers who come once to the garden see how much fun it is to plant a seed. They come back in a couple weeks and can’t believe how big their plants have become! They love that. Hopefully it motivates them to keep weeding!"

Ten Lee County Schools participated in helping with the garden. Transportation for students to work in the garden was provided by local schools. All educational publications are provided by the Lee County Extension System.  Some plants have been donated by Bonnie Plant Farm in Union Springs and the AU Agronomy Department.

Kindergarten groups (led by their respective teachers) 'hand dug' a 200 ft row of sweet potatoes. They enjoyed hands on learning and the Food Bank of East Alabama benefited from the dug sweet potatoes that were placed in the hands of the community.