The Greensboro Community Garden is an all volunteer effort to grow fresh, organic produce for our local community. Established in 2021 in front of the Greensboro Town Hall, an average of 350 pounds of produce is grown annually, donated to the Hardwick Area Food Pantry and distributed at Smith’s Grocery in Greensboro Bend and The Giving Closet in the Town Hall. To get involved, please contact Liz Steel at [email protected] or Jenny Bayles at [email protected]
In May 2023 the Greensboro Community Garden held its first community outreach event in collaboration with the Greensboro Free Library. Doug and Kayleigh, co-owners of Breadseed Farm in East Craftsbury gave a presentation on “Maximizing the Harvest” – sharing tips and techniques on how to follow no-till, organic practices to grow bountiful, great tasting, produce. It was a hybrid event but most of the 26 attendees turned up in person to enjoy the social gathering following the presentation with cheese kindly donated by Jasper Hill and kombucha by Becky Arnold.
Planting Day in early June was a huge success, with a demo of how to use a broadfork for “no-till” aeration of the soil, and a plentiful supply of compost from Black Dirt Farm. We were able to buy two hi-rise water sprinklers as well as no-kink, lightweight hoses using the GA grant funds, which was super helpful for ease of getting the seeds and seedlings established. All the bugs in June and the rains in July did not deter the Garden from growing, nurtured by an active group of 12 core volunteers with additional supporters. Harvests have been plentiful, with over 100lbs of produce donated to the Hardwick Area Food Pantry to date.
Additionally, we formed a new collaboration with Smith’s Grocery in Greensboro Bend during August, which has been very well received. Over 50lbs of produce was donated during the month, stocking the chiller cabinet in the store on a Friday with fresh vegetables harvested from the Community Garden. In addition, volunteers from the Community Garden collaborated with Rural Arts and the Bend Revitalization Initiative to supply salad and veggies with dip at the Basketball Skills Event at the Bend Community Park in early August.
Other community events have included: participation in the Funky 4th pie auction, with two savory donations from Community Garden lead volunteer, Jenny Bales; and supporting the Greensboro Farmers Market, especially on Kids Day, with a “Veggies Rock Hunt” activity. We wrapped up the season with a community workshop on mushroom growing, discussed a collaboration with the “Grow Your Own” program sponsored by the Center for an Agricultural Economy, and planted garlic in the Garden.
