New Community Garden Taking Shape
Progress is moving right along at the newest community garden the Charleston Parks Conservancy is developing with the City of Charleston in West Ashley.
Local residents recently attended an open house to learn more about how to get involved in the community garden, including leasing garden space, volunteering and donating to the project.
They also got to see students from the Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston assemble the 400-square-foot shaded pavilion they designed and built for the garden. The space will be used for community gatherings and a potential farmers market, as well as storage for supplies for gardeners. The Clemson students, under the direction of faculty member David Pastre, will complete installation of the pavilion on the site by the end of November.
With help from the Mount Pleasant Land Conservancy, the Charleston Parks Conservancy acquired the 3.7-acre property in August 2011 with the help of the Charleston County Greenbelt program, and recently donated it to the City of Charleston for use as a public park. The community garden under development is part of a citywide partnership between the Conservancy and the city and will provide opportunities for the community to lease space to raise vegetables for personal use, as well as to develop urban farming skills through educational programming, and by providing fresh produce for the Lowcountry Food Bank.
Earlier this year the Conservancy received a $20,000 Lowe’s Keep America Beautiful Community Improvement Grant, to begin development of the garden. The Conservancy and community volunteers are continuing to raise funds to allow construction to be completed and programming of the community garden to begin.