A Garden To Share

Southern Living, Spring 2004 by Marty, Edwin

This community vegetable patch benefits everyone.

Ask anyone what distinguishes the South from the rest of the country, and they're bound to mention the generous people and beautiful gardens. In Coppell, Texas, a group of neighbors harnessed these two great attributes to create a bustling garden abounding with nutritious vegetables that are donated to the needy.

The Coppell Community Garden has given away more than 37,000 pounds of produce since it was started in 1998, almost all of it to a local emergency food pantry. But it does more than help the less fortunate. It also breaks down the walls of this suburban Dallas community by encouraging people from all walks of life to work side by side. "The people in the neighborhood have gotten to know one another," says the garden's coordinator, Amanda Vanhoozier.

In the Beginning

The garden got its start when Coppell's city manager asked Amanda, who was a schoolteacher at that time, about developing a community garden on a piece of vacant city land. After a few seasons, there was a waiting list of interested neighbors, so Amanda helped secure another piece of land next to the post office. Now they have two prolific gardens, an orchard, and a flower border. In addition to growing produce, the garden is a dropoff site for the Plant a Row for the Hungry program, created by the Garden Writers Association to encourage gardeners to donate extra produce to the needy.

What's Growing?

During the height of summer, a dazzling array of vegetables, herbs, and flowers vie for attention. With more than 65 volunteers growing their favorite plants and cherished passalongs, it's an edible patchwork quilt.

Everyone has agreed to use organic gardening techniques, and Amanda feels this has been instrumental in their success. "We're trying to promote a healthy community, where neighbors take care of each other and the environment," she says. It just makes sense to use safe gardening practices."

Who Needs It?

Another way this garden has become so successful is by frequently surveying the food pantry to find out what's working and what's going to waste. "We're growing vegetable selections that taste great and are high in nutrition," says Amanda, "not just those that fit perfectly into tomato boxes."

The community garden also works hand in hand with the director of the local food pantry to ensure that the families in need know how to handle and use fresh produce.

Each Saturday morning throughout the growing season, you can find volunteers in the garden harvesting whatever is ripe. The produce is boxed up and distributed. "No matter how much we grow," says Amanda, "by Wednesday all the produce is gone, and there are more people in need. We're all just doing our part; this garden works because of the volunteers."

EDWIN MARTY

TO LEARN MORE J

Coppell Community Garden:

P.O. Box 9478, Coppell, TX 75019; (972) 462-5100 or www.ci.coppell.tx.us.

For information on starting a Plant a Row for the Hungry Program in your town, contact the Garden Writers Association, Carol Ledbetter, 10210 Leather- leaf Court, Manassas, VA 20111, or visit www.gardenwriters.org.