We stopped into the Fifth Street Community Garden, in Madison, and got the story about this addition to the community. We’re mainly happy that this is one more example of people donating their time and energy to a project that makes the whole place nicer.
This place aligns with our practice of Human Scale Living. It’s an example of people bringing interesting flavors and colors into their lives. We like the idea of a social experiment as well.
Back Story
As we sometimes do, we allowed the car to drive itself somewhere. We’ve been to every little town around here, and have interesting stories to tell about all of it. We’re authoritative on the topic of “Backroad Travel” and if you’d like to click the “books” link in the main menu you can see evidence of this.
We passed by this garden, and pulled in. As it happens, two of the board members were sitting in a very tidy picnic area, and we were able to get the scoop. Ann Greene and Sally Fowler stopped short of the guy in Winder who literally dragged us in off the street, but cordially welcomed us with a lot of background information.
This garden is newly organized. There was a “soft opening” last fall, and now, with spring, there is anticipation that this will be an interesting gathering place and community resource.
Upcoming Events
There are a couple of things going on. Firstly, on Saturday April 8 there will be an open house, with walkarounds and love. On May 6, there will be a grand opening and ribbon cutting for this place, which is located at 664 Fifth Street in Madison.
FYI this location is on the “wrong side of the tracks.” We have discussed this concept as it applies to a lot of the little towns in the area. Part of the point of this is to put it there deliberately.
The Fifth Street Garden
This garden is modeled after some other community gardens. An opportunity arose to put something nice into a vacant lot near the Boys and Girls Club building. Firstly, the founders have an openly stated mission of promoting sustainability. They also have a stated goal of education, particularly in the idea of where food comes from and addressing food health issues. Finally, there is also an openly stated policy of bringing different communities together, as an opportunity to share cultural ideas about gardening and food.
The garden started with a generous donation from Lowe’s for gear and other resources, and a friendly deal was worked out for leasing of the land.
Here’s how it works
Anybody who wants to try their hand at a little gardening can do so. The rent on a 4X8 garden box is $35 per year. The “tenant” can try their hand at veggies, flowers, or anything else they want. The renters are expected to tend their gardens and make the whole thing tidy.
At the moment there are 32 leased beds, and the garden is expanding to 45. As of right now, there is a waiting list. Interested sponsors may offer a “scholarship. This is where you pay for the spot, and let someone else garden it.
There is also need for volunteers for projects. Part of the plan on this is to landscape it beautifully. There are a variety of activities going on at a given time including plant swaps, free seedling day, and a lot of different activities for school kids. The openly stated intent of this place is to teach kids where food comes from. In this neighborhood, there is an absence of high quality food sources.
There is an ongoing desire for funding, so anybody who knows anybody may spread word of this around.
Fifth Street Garden Walk Around
We liked the pleasant environment. This place has “manicured abundance” with a sodded lawn and gravel pathways. There are supplies of mulch around, and water is available on the site. These well-constructed garden boxes are a perfect size for a little supplemental food crop.
We saw all sorts of “winter crops” on their way out. We’re not quite in the full planting season and some of the crops have gone to tops.
But, we see opportunity in this. People who do planting like this are optimistic. They expect their little bit of work to pay off at some point later in the year.
There are plans to do information exchanges. Some of the master gardeners in town are involved in the project, and there are programs for high school kids as well as the Boys and Girls Club kids.
Inspiration from the Fifth Street Garden
We made the observation the last time we were in Augusta about the “unequal distribution of niceness.” This project directly addresses this issue and spreads the niceness around a bit.
At the moment, the garden is open to everybody. There is a deer fence around the perimeter, but no locks on the doors, allowing anybody interested to get into the spirit of the place.
We have had conversations previously about the dependency of people on the corporate food supply chain. This project is another way to get people to think about that issue, and develop some preparedness. We like this point of view as well.
Do you want a scholarly article on this? We have no less authority than the NIH, which I have linked below which says that the community garden approach can reduce food insecurity, improve healthy eating, and get people outdoors, all of which are good.
Would we put a Guest onto this?
We’re always looking for interesting places in the area to visit, and we’d have to say this place is very nice. At the Firefly, pretty bed and breakfast near Madison GA, we like to promote things going on in the area.
There’s some local color, and a nice place to sit and have a picnic. It may not be for everybody but for a certain kind of visitor to Madison, this might be interesting. We like a community where people invest time and effort into spreading around the niceness.
For more information feel free to click the Facebook page below, or email at the contact email on the card. There are lots of ways to help.
Links and References
https://www.facebook.com/FifthStreetGardenMMCG/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3661291/
