Community Garden Beginning to Take Shape

The town's new Community Garden at the Clayton Community Center is getting a huge boost this summer in several different ways.

First, the Garden has been awarded a $3,000 grant from Nourishing North Carolina to build a storage building for supplies and purchase gardening tools.

Second, the Parks & Recreation Department has established partnerships with a variety of agencies and groups, including local high school students, local churches, area seniors and the County Extension Service to help the Garden flourish.

Third, the Department plans to use the Garden as a "teaching garden" this summer and fall though a series of free gardening classes open to all area residents.

And fourth, children in the Summer Playground Program are using raised beds and compost bins at the Garden--which were built through two Eagle Scout projects--to learn how plants grow. The youngsters, ages 6 to 12 years of age, are planting their own seeds and tending their crops.

"Things are beginning to come together very well," said Parks & Recreation Director Larry Bailey. "We're working toward getting the Garden firmly established this year, and then come on in a big way next spring."

The grant, made possible through a partnership of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC and the NC Recreation and Park Association, is a big help to the process, Bailey said. Clayton is the first town in Johnston County to receive such a grant though they are available in all the state's 100 counties. The town intends to seek another grant next year.

“This grant will allow us to install our garden so we can provide fresh, local produce for more people in our community and encourage healthy eating habits,” he said. “Our garden will not only provide healthy food, it will also provide a safe area for our citizens of all ages to work together, share a public green space, and be physically active through gardening.”

Blue Cross hopes the grants will help guide residents toward healthier eating and living habits.

Some of the local groups already signed up to help with the Garden include, the Johnston County Health Department, the Master Gardener program, Clayton High School FFA, Clayton Youth Council, Clayton Area Ministries, First Missionary Church, St. Ann’s Catholic Church and the Extension Service. Bailey said he hopes more will join the effort next year.

The new gardening class, "Gardening A-Z," is set to begin Aug. 4 and extend through September. Classes will be held once a week at the Community Center on Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8 pm and cover everything from site selection and soil preparation to planting and harvesting. The only cost is a small $15 supplies/materials fee.

Perhaps the most fun at the Garden so far is revolving around the children in the Playground Program who are getting to see a garden grow, many for the first time.

"They're fascinated," Bailey said, "But what's really fascinating for me was watching them when they first saw the seeds. They've eaten these vegetables all their lives, but had no idea they came from such small seeds. You should have seen some of the looks. It was hard for some of them to believe."
The youngsters got a crash course on gardening, then went straight to the "hands-on" experience, planting vegetables such as beets, string beans, turnips and broccoli.

"It was interesting to watch," Bailey said. "There were some who said they really didn't like dirt, and some who jumped in with both feet."

But the Playground Program will be over Aug. 12 and the children will be going back to school---before any of their crops will be ready to harvest.

"It'll be interesting to see how many come back to see how their plants have grown," Bailey said. "And how many of them bring their parents to show them the garden. But, however that works out, I think that just having had the experience of learning where food comes from will be valuable for them."

The raised beds and compost bins at the Garden were part of two Eagle Scout projects of Ryan Kronz of Troop 24 and P.J. Gilmartin of Troop 726. They had help from fellow scouts Chris Gilmartin, Jack Cawthorn, William Ball, Shaun Glass and Steven Zinn. They were joined in the work by Jessica Kronz and Emily Sanders of the Archer Lodge Middle School Beta Club.

Even with all the help, though, the Garden still needs more volunteers, Bailey said. Anyone interested in helping--even for just a short time each week--is encouraged to contact the Department at 919-553-1550.