What a wonderful time of the year! Growing season. All around the town of Charleston, the fields were rowed up with green plants, cotton or soybeans. Inside the town, you could see strong burgeoning gardens, privately owned. Looking farther away down the county roads, you saw corn ready to tassel. You get the picture: a rich countryside full of growing plants.
If you are a member of the Charleston Magnolia Garden Club, one season of growing leads to preparation of another future season of growing. In the uncertainty of the news which has us biting our nails one minute, and ready to dance in the streets the next, I ask you: Isn’t it good to know some things never change?
The Charleston Community Garden, located on the corner of George Payne Cossar Street, has 12 sections of plants and four gardeners grooming and harvesting those sections. Just four sections does not sound like much, but several Charleston residents have commented on these gardens all “looking good.” One passerby in particular, as he was driving past that corner, yelled out the window of his car to say to Gay Lynn Dungan Haynes, in charge of the garden and a member in good standing with the Charleston Magnolia Garden Club: “Y’all always keep it looking so good.” A wave and thank you, and she was back to the shared business of keeping it all “looking good.”
This Charleston Community Garden, which is not a new concept when you look across the United States, was donated by Miss Mary Harpole, a member of the CMGC some years ago. The idea of offering a patch of good ground to grow some vegetables for our families has been around since way before WWII.
You may remember some community gardens in areas other than Charleston, since the manner in which the garden is planned is not unique across the country. The sections of the garden are measured 8 by 8 feet. One section is a one-year fee of $25 and if you want more than one plot, the fee is negotiated by the Community Garden administration and approved by the CMGC. Interest in next year’s or even this year’s winter gardening is encouraged.
This year, Freddie had two plots — one for corn and the other for tomatoes and beans and such. Dot had three and has shamed the other three participants with her energy despite 93 years and her experience in gardening. Gay Lynn had two sections. She grew sugar peas for the first time along with tomatoes, corn, squash and cantaloupe. Elizabeth had three sections with corn, tomatoes, peas and a bit. All their contributions in fees helped pay the water bill and the use of the tiller that Freddie operates. A big thank you to the James Kennedy Wellness Center for the use of the tiller.
What do you think? Want to try your hand at being a part of the future that we enjoy in Charleston? Contact Gay Lynn Dungan Haynes at glgroover@gmail.com to reserve your garden section for next year.
Keep the good things going. The things that shouldn’t change. Playing in the dirt, for one.
