Community garden offers residents opportunity to grow food
A group of cultivators is working to establish a new 10,000-square-foot community garden at the Getsemani Community Center in Georgetown.
Davin Hoyt, a Georgetown native with a bachelors degree in architecture from Texas Tech University, has led the charge in establishing the garden.
Half of the garden is expected to grow produce, including tomatoes, onions, beans and a variety of fruit to sell and share with local nonprofit groups. The other half of the garden will be offered to members of the community for use free of charge.
The 3,000-mile salad has become a thing of the past, Hoyt said, referring to salads made up of ingredients from farms throughout the nation. I want communities to be more self-sufficient and utilize the resources around the corner.
Hoyt, along with Richard Pearce, helped establish the garden after working on the First United Methodist Church Community Garden located on 17th Street.
Through the grapevine we knew about the Getsemani Community Center, he said. They had a 100-by-100-foot playground they werent using.
By December 2012, Hoyt had created a plan and presented it to the Getsemani board, which approved it.
Much of 2013 was spent resurfacing the soil and establishing irrigation systems, said Hoyt, who serves as president and architect of the project.
This winter volunteers helped remove rocks from the soil, and in late March began planting crops in the garden.
The soil itself is excellent soil, Pearce said. The problem is its almost pure shale. Weve had to screen the soil to take out the rocks so we can cultivate it.
Volunteers from the Horticulture Club of Sun City worked off-site to grow plants that could be transferred into the garden, while volunteers from Southwestern University, Williamson County Juvenile Services and youth groups at First United Methodist churches in Georgetown and Round Rock have made up part of the muscle behind bringing the garden to fruition.
Its been very awesome that the same volunteers at the 17th Street garden have offered themselves at Getsemani, Hoyt said. Theyve continued to support us.
An electronic irrigation system that utilizes collected rainwater will provide moisture to the garden. A washstand for cleaning picked vegetables is connected to municipal water but drains to water blackberry bushes along the fence, Hoyt said.
Peach, plum and pecan saplings have also taken root in the garden as well as apple, pear and a variety of other fruits trees, Hoyt said. The fruit trees could produce a crop in about two years, he said.
Volunteers get involved with community gardens for different reasons. Hoyt said his own interest in healthy eating drove him to get involved.
The more pure the food that goes into your body, the more pure your thoughts are, he said.
Others said they appreciate the sense of community that comes with growing produce to share with others.
I like the whole idea of gardening in a natural way, Pearce said. The idea [that] Im helping people have a healthier diet and teaching people to do something I love myself is my payback.
Hoyt and Pearce said the produce grown in the communal half of the garden would likely be sold at a farmers market at low prices to help low-income families access healthy food. Proceeds will be put toward the Getsemani Community Center Garden.
After a time, [we] may turn it into a co-op where [residents] can invest their time or labor in place of money to get food, Pearce said. We dont know exactly how its going to evolve.
