Community Gardens

     Last week Wednesday our Geology class took a short but intriguing trip to a community garden behind Wesley Methodist Church. While we were there we got got the opportunity to explore the different plants that were being grown and to understand the techniques behind growing strategies. It was even more amazing to see the plant s there flourishing after we told that Macon had once been (and still may be) a dangerous place to grow plants because of the high Iron content. However, these community gardens are not only restricted to the state boundary lines of Georgia. In Gig Harbor, Washington, Mavis Butterfield is growing a community garden of her own. In fact she is planning to grow about two tons of fruits and vegetables this year. Below are two of the type of plants she is working on...

     This Flower bed above is Swiss Chard flower bed. Swiss Chard is a green leafy vegetable that is part of the vegetables called the "greens". This vegetable group also includes vegetables such as Broccoli and Kale. In this picture Mavis Butterfield has managed to start her own nice flower bed. As you can see it is raised about six inches off the ground. This is good because one it keeps weeds from getting to your plants. It prevents the soil of your plants from eroding away, and its keeps certain major pests at bay.

Secondly, this picture above shows french radishes. As you can see thy have already budded and are starting to show forth. Radishes are vegetables that are mildly sweet and crunchy and grow best in the spring. This sweet things can get up to three or four inches long.

All in all, community gardens as well as backyard gardens are good not only for the environment but for ourselves, and for the community. You can lose if you have a community garden in your caboose!