September 21st dawned clear and bright the way the Day of Caring always does in Charlottesville, VA. It shone on hundreds, perhaps thousands, of eager folks looking forward to the largest day of volunteering of the year. Or maybe they were really just looking forward to getting out of their workplaces. We’ll never know. About thirty of those volunteers came from the UVA department of student athletes to volunteer in our community garden. Students, coaches, and staff joined Debbie Ashby and Nehali Patel of PVCC’s Student Success Office and worked on a number of tasks throughout the morning. The ..read more

Gardening in the summer can feel so overwhelming at times with the heat, humidity, insects, groundhogs, occasional drought (not this year) and sheer exuberant growth. So by late summer many gardens look overgrown and a little bit neglected. Even passionate gardeners feel a little bit of summer wilt. But then cooler weather begins to steal in and as temperatures slide down into the 80’s and cooler nights make being outdoors a little more enjoyable again, so does our attention turn back to the garden. It has, after all, not only continued to produce but as always, we’re trying to remain one seas ..read more

Recently the garden received some great donations from two wonderful local gardening resources. Last Friday Snow’s Garden Center at 1875 Avon Street welcomed five of us and donated plants (herbs, marigolds) and bags of soil and mulch, along with as much loose straw as we could gather into bags. One of their employees even pitched in too, then Snow’s Garden Center Manager Zachary Pittinger walked us around pointing at things we could take. This is not the first time that Snow’s has supported the garden and we really appreciate their plants, knowledgeable staff, and great upbeat attitudes. Then ..read more

Our community garden is volunteer led and driven and I’m pretty proud of that. I mean, if we had paid staff, a large budget and fine, shiny resources I’d be proud of that too – but in a different way. One of the garden’s raised beds Schoolyard gardens are funny creatures in the summer if you think about it. Between late May and early September is often when the garden is at it’s most productive – and neediest. The weeds are growing fast, insects are eating and multiplying in large numbers, and here in Virginia it constantly seems like a month will go by without rain. Raised beds drain pretty q ..read more

Saturday, October 2nd was the quintessential Virginia fall day with a sky so blue it almost hurt to look upwards. And, for the first time in a few years, the community gardeners gathered in celebration – a community harvest festival, if you will, a chance to be joyful in each other’s company. The food was delicious – these people can really cook – and the conversation was better. It was great to see smiles unhidden by masks ..read more

Friday’s weather was just perfect, a blue sky without blemish, and about ten students came out to finish the week by digging in numerous areas of the garden. They weeded, prepped bed space, thinned growing rows of plants and most importantly tasted, tried, laughed, and enjoyed. Fridays from 3:00-5:00 are a wonderful way to end the work week. Come and join us ..read more

There’s been a major project underway at the garden to increase plantings around the exterior beds. Too many hands have contributed time and effort over the years to count but today I’d like to give some credit to Kip. Not only has he managed a bed in the community garden for the last few seasons, plus helped many other gardeners maintain and upgrade their own plots, plus takeover the garden’s shared herb space, but he also planted a huge number of both annual and perennial plants. Nut trees, apple trees, plums, grapes, sorghum, etc. And take note, he’s done this during a summer of high heat a ..read more

Girl Scout Troop 3042 in Crozet visited the garden and learned about the benefits of a community garden and sustainability. They and their younger siblings and parents walked around smelling, touching, and tasting the assorted growing vegetables, herbs and flowers. Climbing the mulch mountain was very popular and, as it was a hot morning, so was spraying the hose. Hopefully they went home and began clamoring for gardening opportunities. Thanks to all who visited, troop leaders Lauren Costella and Erin Lynch and, as always, the very cool Waverly Nohr- who made gardening fun ..read more

It’s been a beautiful spring and the gardens are getting into full swing. We have about 25 individuals and families currently occupying the vegetable plots and have recently created two new beds: one for flowers and another for Madison House. Speaking of the UVA volunteers, they rejoined us again about a month ago and have been their usual source of joy and positive energy. It’s been such a comfort to have this community in the community garden during this past year ..read more

Every year we make labels so that we can continue learning about what the plants look like in every stage of development. After all, a young sprout with it’s first two leaves looks an awful lot like a lot of other young sprouts. Or maybe we make them because it will help us remember later what we planted and less for other people. Perhaps it’s the joy inherent in the act of making something both beautiful and functional. Whatever the reason, every single season we gather to make more labels becomes a laughter filled occasion. Each label contains a picture of the plant, the Latin name, common n ..read more