Lab 4- Community Gardens

In lab on Wednesday, we went to the Beall's Hill Community Garden behind Centenary Methodist Church.  We discussed the 12 primary soil types briefly as well as used a dichotomous key to figure out what type of soil we have in the garden.  In Georgia, we commonly find ultisols.  An example of an ultisol is the Georgia Red Clay.  This sort of soil is prevalent in the Southeastern region of the US and tend to be highly acidic in areas of mixed forest vegetation.  Most plants require additives such as fertilizer or lime to thrive in this environment.  For more information about soil types, visit the Natural Resources Conservation Services or the University of Idaho's Soil taxonomy website.


Despite a clayey soil which isn't the most conducive to plant growth, agriculture play's an important role in Georgia's economy.  But over the past several decades, community gardening in urban areas has risen to prominence throughout the nation.  Community gardens, such as the one found behind Centenary Methodist Church, are gardens planted in urban areas which are maintained by member of a local nonprofit or, more commonly, local member from the community.  These gardens are good for supplementing one's diet with cheap, healthy foods, providing low cost foods for , developing a greater sense of community in an area, reconnecting with nature, and the satisfaction of enjoying your product after a long harvest.

 However, particularly in urban environments, there are numerous challenges which plague cultivators including institutional/bureaucratic complications, safety/theft of producers and their products, structural issues (Where to find a space?), organizational issues, and environment issues.  Organizational issues might become a major issues if the garden is completely operated on a volunteer basis by people within the community.  There are also environmental issues with soil quality.  There is the possibility that the natural soil to an area may be contaminated with heavy metals such as lead or phosphorus.  In such cases, it is necessary that farmers monitor metal levels in the soil and possibly buy new soil to begin the garden and then leach or replace the soil if the levels become too high. For more information about community gardens, visit the American Community Gardening Association site.  See this presentation on soil toxicity.  For tips for starting your own garden, check out Rebel Tomato, a site hosted by the ACGA.


In Macon, there are several community Gardens including the Beall's Hill Garden, Pleasant Hill community garden, Mulberry Street United Methodist Church community garden which serves Macon Outreach, and a "pay to plant" garden in North Macon Park. For more information about community gardens in the Macon area, read this article from the Macon telegraph.  Also, check out the Macon Roots website. They have been active in Farmers markets and community gardens throughout the middle GA area.