Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

Gearing Up for Spring

Leola Street Community Garden Kicks Off New Season

Story by Sam Calhoun

Ideas are growing at the Leola Street Community Garden in Boone, and future improvements are starting to blossom.

Matt Cooper, the unpaid coordinator for the Leola Street Community Garden, has developed the garden’s spring, summer and fall calendar, is looking for new gardeners and is discussing new programs and improvements for the community gardening project that turns three years old this spring.

Getting Started

Spaces at the Leola Street Community Garden are currently available for rental by community members. Although 30 spaces are already created at the garden, plenty of room remains. More than one-third of the garden’s space is still undeveloped. Return gardeners will use some of the 30 spaces, but several are available for $20 for a 10- by 15-foot space, $30 for a 14- by 20-foot space and $40 for a 20- by 30-foot space. Space is limited, though, so Cooper encourages community members to reserve early. All fees are tax deductible because the garden is part of the nonprofit Appalachian Coalition for Just and Sustainable Communities. To purchase a space at the community garden, call Cooper at 828-773-5893 or stop by the first workday at the garden on Saturday, March 15. The garden’s website, www.leolastreetgarden.org, provides information, but no way to reserve spaces.

People who rent a space at the community garden can tend to their site at anytime throughout the year—the fees are annual.

The garden organizers schedule workdays at the garden that feature a speaker or a lesson on a specific gardening subject. Workdays are free and typically start at 10:00 a.m.

Programs and Future Additions

Cooper is starting the Teach a Person to Fish Program this year for low-income people who want to get into gardening but don’t have the money or materials to get started. Cooper is asking that low-income individuals contact him about the program, while he works with local nonprofit agencies to find funding for the program. Cooper is also asking that anyone in the community interested in donating funds to the program contact him.

Aside from sponsorships for a garden and gardener, Cooper is also asking for new and used tools, donated compost or cash donations. For $150, Cooper can get enough compost for a single garden and the manpower needed to deliver it.

Again this year, Cooper is buying roughly $300 worth of plants from the 4-H Club. These plants—blueberry, strawberry, grape and raspberry—will be planted according to the community garden’s site plan. The blueberry plants will be planted along an interior garden walkway—a site Cooper is calling “Blueberry Lane.”

In 2008, Cooper hopes to finish negotiations with the Boone Town Council for a spilt-rail fence that will border the property. Once the fence is installed, ample room will be left for the Boone Greenway to run beside the property and apple trees will be planted to espaliate against the fence, said Cooper. Also in 2008, Cooper is hoping to find donated funds to build raised garden beds for handicapped patrons.

In the future, Cooper is hoping to build a large picnic shelter on the corner of the garden closest to Wal-Mart where community garden members can eat, relax and read the information on the kiosk. Cooper’s 5-year plan also includes making the Leola Street Community Garden a satellite Watauga County Farmers’ Market. The new farmers’ market, said Cooper, will not be competition to the existing market, but just add a day in the week when local farmers can sell their produce.

For more information, call Cooper at 828-773-5893 or click to www.leolastreetgarden.org.

Leola Street Community Garden Workdays

Below is the 2008 calendar for the Leola Street Community Garden—cut it out of the paper, or look for it printed on the kiosk at the garden site.

On Saturday, March 15, Matt Cooper is hosting the St. Patrick’s Spring Planting from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Attending the event is the best way to sign up for a space at the community garden. The event features lessons on spring plants and participants receive free seeds.

On Saturday, April 26, Cooper and Richard Boylan, specialized agent for the Watauga County Cooperative Extension, are hosting a workday on soil preparation and fertility from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

On Saturday, May 10, Cooper is hosting the inaugural Mother’s Day Plant Sale Fundraiser from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For the event, Cooper is asking local farmers and gardeners to bring their trees, shrubs, flowers, bulbs and seeds to the fundraiser, pay a $20 deposit to sell their goods and then donate 10 percent of sales to the community garden. For more information, call Cooper at 828-773-5893.

On Saturday, June 14, Cooper and Boylan are hosting a workshop on succession planting, harvesting early crops, summer mulching and feeding from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

On Saturday, July 12, Cooper is hosting a Celebrate Harvest and Share a Recipe Day from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Cooper and friends will also explain how to start planting for fall during the event.

On Saturday, August 16, Cooper is asking that community garden members come out and clean up the garden in preparation for fall.

On Saturday, September 13, Cooper and Boylan are hosting a workshop on cover crops from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

On Saturday, October 18, Cooper is hosting a Put the Garden to Bed Day where he and community garden members will winterize the garden.

On Saturday, November 8, Cooper and Boylan are hosting a workshop on winter bulb gardening.