Dunwoody Woman’s Club Leases First of Five Raised Garden Beds in Brook Run

The Dunwoody Woman’s Club has leased the first of five new wheelchair accessible raised beds from the Community Garden in the greenhouse complex at Brook Run Park.  

Fourteen members of the club have volunteered to maintain the beds, according to Kathy Hanna, a former club president. They plan to raise herbs and vegetables and share them with families living in the Interfaith Outreach Home in Doraville. 

The beds were planned and built by Michael Henley, a sophomore at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, as a service project to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.  Michael, the son of Steve and Jane Henley, is a member of Troop 494 at Dunwoody Baptist Church. 

Four accessible beds remain available to be leased. Three of the beds are six feet long and lease for $48 per year.  The other bed is eight feet long and leases for $60 per year.

The rest of the raised beds, as well as a few still-available spaces in the 92-plot Community Garden, also located in the park, are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The annual fee for the in-ground plots at the Community Garden is $60 for an eight-foot plot. 

For information about leasing the raised beds or a plot in the main garden, contact membership@dunwoodygarden.org or visit www.dunwoodygarden.org.

Founded in 2009, the Community Garden is a non-profit organization that provides members the opportunity to grow food organically year-round.  The Garden dedicates 20 percent of its space to growing food for charitable purposes.  Community Garden members also grow food for low-income families year-round and raise plants for the Garden’s annual spring plant sale in the greenhouse. 

Dunwoody Garden Club Auction is Feb. 28

The Dunwoody Garden Club will offer two items of special interest to gardeners during the auction portion of its 36th annual Bridge Party, Luncheon and Silent Auction.

The items are books by Walter Reeves that he signed especially for this event, which is the club’s major annual fundraiser.

The fundraiser will be held Tuesday, Feb. 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Dunwoody United Methodist Church, 1548 Mount Vernon Road.  Tickets are $20 and can be ordered by calling 770 394-7558 or by printing out and mailing the reservation form on the club’s website.

The public is invited. The event has attracted 350 attendees in recent years.

The recurring theme of the festivities is “Shop Dunwoody.” Items merchants donate for the auction account for a major portion of the funds that the event raises. In recognition of merchant generosity, the club will recognize participating merchants with an individual placard for the item donated as well as the merchant’s logo, address and phone number and a listing in the event program. Donations are tax deductible and the club will provide merchants with a letter acknowledging their gift. 

This year’s event marks the 45th year the club has planned and led service projects to beautify Dunwoody. Funds from previous fundraisers have funded many of the projects that have helped to make Dunwoody such a vibrant and viable community. Those projects include:

• Maintaining the interior atrium planter and exterior landscaping at the Dunwoody Library.
• Landscaping at Dunwoody High School.
• Maintaining the garden and charity vegetable beds at the Donaldson-Bannister Farm.
• Providing plants and financial donations for the Pollinator Garden in the greenhouse complex at Brook Run Park.
• Planting and maintaining the garden at the Dunwoody Pines retirement residence. 

The club also makes contributions to the Dunwoody Nature Center, the Dunwoody Community Garden, the DeKalb County Federation Garden Center, the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the Georgia State Botanical Garden and Habitat for Humanity projects. 

Two grants sought for Chesnut Charter

Angela Renals, a parent sponsor of the Ecology Club at Chesnut Charter Elementary School, is seeking two grants for the school’s gardening program.

One is a grant from Whole Foods through the Whole Kids Foundation. The foundation's mission is to improve children's nutrition and wellness with the goal of ending the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic. The foundation accomplishes its mission by creating partnerships with innovative organizations, schools and educators to provide children access to healthier choices. One of the ways they do that is by offering grants to schools such as Chesnut and others in the Dunwoody cluster to create sustainable organic gardens and to use them to teach children about healthy eating habits, sustainability, food systems and community awareness.

Renals is also seeking a mini-grant from Georgia Organics, which will award up to eight grants for Farm to School projects. These grants are for DeKalb County schools and are funded through the DeKalb County Board of Health.

Winners of both grants will be announced in February.

Fruit tree and berry sale

The third annual fruit tree, vine and berry bush sale will be held this Saturday, Jan. 21. The sale benefits the Atlanta Local Food Initiative and will be at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, 970 Jefferson St. NW, Atlanta 30318. The sale will be held from 10 a.m. to noon. In its first two years, the event has generated the sale of more than 5,000 fruit trees and shrubs. For more information, visit http://www.atlantalocalfood.org/.