I’m a tad bit obsessive about visiting gardens and taking photos, and now I’m on a photo collage kick, so it’s only getting worse. However, how do you not take photos of the gorgeous summer bounty that’s starting to fall off the vines right now? Pictured are vegetables and herbs growing at the Garden of Eatin’ at Malachi’s Storehouse Food Pantry (at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Dunwoody, GA). This special garden was created specifically for food pantry clients to harvest for themselves while waiting for the food pantry doors to open each Wednesday. They also get involved in watering, planting, and caring for the garden. This is one of the gardens in which I’m involved regularly with a truly terrific group of volunteers, so it’s very close to my heart. The money for this garden was raised in just four days almost two years ago, Farmer D Organics installed it within a week, and it was being harvested just weeks later.
As I think about what’s growing now, it’s hard to separate the fruits and vegetables that are growing from the community that’s growing around them. From faith-based gardens to community gardens to my home garden where I continually end up chatting with neighbors, the community that grows is as exciting to discover each day as is the new baby watermelon or the finally-red tomato.
For example, I cleared out some space in my home garden this morning for a second planting of summer crops. There is plenty of time for more tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, squashes, sunflowers, and a whole host of other seeds and transplants. As I added more basil around my mailbox and a neighbor’s child came over to see what I was doing, I realized there was room for yet more community-building as well.
Take advantage of our long growing season here in metro-Atlanta and plant a second set of summer crops (or a first set, if you somehow just didn’t get it going on yet). If you plant now, you may even have tomatoes, green beans, and butternut squash from your garden on your Thanksgiving table (or those in need at your food pantry may, as a result of your efforts). Be sure to visit our Pinterest page to see more of what’s growing in gardens and communities here in metro-Atlanta and beyond. New collages are being added, well, almost daily.
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