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Community Corner

Green Thumbs Celebrate New Plots at Brook Run Community Garden

New members got to select a plot from the 26 that were recently added to the garden

The moment that people on the Dunwoody Community Garden waiting list have been anticipating arrived bright and early Saturday morning.

They finally got a plot in the popular garden in Brook Run Park. The Garden Board invited everyone who’s been waiting for space to become available to attend a workday on Saturday from 9-11 a.m. After paying their $50 annual dues and signing the membership agreement, the new members got to select a plot from the 26 that were recently added to the garden.

The new plots had already been staked out and areas around them prepped by Board members Don Converse, Diana Wood and Angela Minyard.

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All the new members had to do on Saturday was pick their plots and begin installing raised bed borders. With the sun rising through the trees, everyone – new members and existing members who were trending their plots or helping in a variety of volunteer activities – worked quickly to get as much done as possible before the heat and humidity made continued activity uncomfortable.

Tim and Ellen Finnigan of Sandy Springs, who’ve been on a waiting list since March, were among the first new members to begin work on their bed. They actually had gotten a head start before arriving at the garden by cutting untreated wood to the 4x8 size of the plot. They’d also placed corner brackets on some pieces and drilled holes in others.

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Once Tim brought the wood to their plot, it was a simple matter for him and Ellen to fasten the four pieces together.

As they were finishing up framing their raised bed, I asked Tim how long they had been gardening. “Oh, about 45 minutes,” he replied with a smile.

They’ve actually had a much longer experience with plants. Tim said he has fond childhood memories of his Dad’s garden. Ellen is an education assistant for public programs at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Tim is retired from UPS and is looking for a second career. First, though, he and Ellen plan to fill their raised bed with Farmer D’s compost and begin planting goodies she bought at a sale at the botanical garden. The first plants to go in the ground will be tomatoes, okra and herbs.

Across the garden in another just-opened section, new member David Evans was beginning work on his plot. David, who lives in Dunwoody and has a media duplication business, Sound Video Corporation, said he’s been on the waiting list about three months.

The driving force behind his gardening venture, he said, is his one-year-old son, Harrison. David said he wants to expose him to a healthy lifestyle through gardening.

David’s plans are to prepare his site by cultivating the soil, installing a raised bed and filling it with Farmer D’s compost. He said he hasn’t determined what to plant yet. “I need to ask my wife,” he explained.

He’s guessing that wife Sarah’s list will include tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

Near David’s plot, Sue Said and her husband, Bill, were beginning work on their new plot. The Saids first put their names on the waiting list more than a year ago Sue recalled. After that, however, Sue broke an ankle, while hiking with her grandson.

She wasn’t able to garden while recuperating. Now, with the ankle healed, she and Bill finally have their long-anticipated gardening plot.

As these and other gardeners were installing their plots, Community Garden Chair Rebecca Barria checked in with them to make sure their installations were going well and to go over rules of the garden.

Because it truly is a “community garden,” all members are expected to donate three hours a year of their time, beyond time they spend with their plots, to one of the community service teams.

There are many. Tim, for instance, volunteered for four teams.

Rebecca also talked with new members about such simple garden etiquette as using the compost. When members get compost, for instance, they are expected to turn it to keep the composting process active.

Now that the garden has expanded beyond its original borders, no longer has a waiting list for  new members and even has plots available for more members, a logical question is, “What’s next?”

“Right now,” Rebecca said, “I think we’ll let things mellow and see how the garden goes.”

If you haven’t visited the garden to see how it is going and what your neighbors are up to, a good time to do so is coming up. The Garden will host an “evening in the garden” on Saturday, June 18 from 7 – 9 p.m. The Garden is where the sidewalk ends, as Community Garden members like to say.

You just might walk away from the evening with the feeling that this high-energy group of gardeners just can’t let something mellow for too long.

In the not too distant future, for example, don’t be surprised if you see a detached garden, a well that would become a garden water supply, bee hives or an orchard.

Meanwhile, there are a few more plots available. Think about getting in on the fun. After all, there’s no better feeling than harvesting what you’ve grown, whether it’s produce for the Food Pantry donations every Tuesday, fresh vegetables for your dinner table or new friendships.

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