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everal years ago I left my New Jersey home and headed south. Having spent
my earliest gardening years up north, I quickly learned how to garden southern-style.
In the Carolinas (zones 6, 7, & 8), where gardening is nearly a year-round activity,
experience is the best teacher. So create a garden, whether it's in a decorative
container on your front porch or across the front, side and back of your new
home.
You also need a good dose of ideas and inspiration, which are easy to find around
here. Just explore the unending diversity of public and private gardens. Some
have breathtaking mountain views; others, brilliant coastal sunsets.
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hen, get the "inside scoop" on southern gardening from southern gardeners,
who happen to be as delightful as the plots they tend. Express an interest in
a particular plant, and the gardener will "passalong" that lovely plant treasure
to you -- along with a few extra helpings of southern hospitality. To ensure
its successful move to your garden, just remember not to say "thank you." Southerners
have told me that any grateful sentiments will do. Try "You're so kind," or
"What a thoughtful gift!" If you say "thank you," your "passalong plant" won't
grow. It's okay. Your mother won't mind if you don't say thank you just this
one time.
Master Gardeners will pass along their knowledge freely. This nationwide, volunteer
learning-service program is administered by the Cooperative Extension Service.
Although Master Gardeners can be as unique as their gardens, they share two
common attributes: a desire to learn about gardening and a willingness to share
their knowledge with others. In counties across the Carolinas, North Carolina
State University and Clemson University extension agents provide intensive,
formal classroom training that covers a variety of regionally based garden-related
topics. In return for the training, Master Gardeners agree to donate a certain
number of hours of volunteer service on Extension-related activities to their
communities.
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"I'm helping
people become better gardeners by teaching them about plants and the problems
they encounter."
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Many Master Gardeners continue to offer public service long after fulfilling
their requirements. For example, South Carolina Master Gardener Proctor Bush
can be found every Tuesday morning in the Aiken County extension office responding
to callers' questions. "I can never stop learning," says Mr. Bush. "I'm helping
people become better gardeners by teaching them about plants and the problems
they encounter. At the same time, I'm also learning more about gardening."
When he's not in the office, chances are you'll find Mr. Bush in his classroom:
the one-fourth acre landscape around his home at Cedar Creek, a classy golf
community amidst Thoroughbred Country, just south of Aiken, South Carolina.
His attractive, low-maintenance design offers something of beauty every month
of the year from both indside and outside his home. "I learned pretty quickly
when I moved down here that one of the nicest things about the South is being
able to have something blooming year-round," notes this hard-working Master
Gardener.
Besides showcasing a wide variety of common and lesser-known plants, Mr. Bush
uses his landscape for demonstrations where visitors learn about composting
and mulching. "The bottom line for me is teaching people how to select the right
plants and how to keep them healthy. I love it. They do too!"
Other Master Gardeners in the Carolinas use their knowledge and experience to
supply fresh produce to residents in their communities. The Guilford County
Master Gardeners in Greensboro, North Carolina, established a community garden
next door to the County Extension Center. They transformed a 1.5-acre horse
pasture into "The Servant Garden," named after The Servant Center Inc., a nonprofit
organization whose programs include a food pantry that feeds low-income, elderly
residents in the Greensboro area.
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On any given day, you'll find Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts,
church groups, and other volunteers in The Servant Garden.
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Under the direction of Master Gardener Joe Brown, the Master Gardeners designed
and laid-out the vegetable beds. Because this is a community garden, volunteers
work with the Master Gardeners to sow seeds, set out transplants, weed, and
harvest the vegetables. On any given day, you'll find Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts,
church groups, and other volunteers in The Servant Garden.
Gail Haworth, executive director of The Servant Center, also can be found between
the rows of vegetables. "I'm a gardener at heart," she says beaming, explaining
that she's experienced the highs and lows of gardening. "Food pantries like
ours don't have access to fresh produce. And that's why I'm out here. At times
it's hard work, like when we planted a few hundred pounds of potatoes. I thought
the rows would never end. But to know you're growing food and helping others
makes it all worthwhile."
The Servant Garden is a drop-off site for local gardeners who have "planted
a row for the hungry." This program was started in 1995 by the Garden Writers
Association of America to encourage gardeners to plant an extra row in their
gardens, which will be donated to the local soup kitchen or food pantry. With
the help of Karen Neill, Guilford County Extension Agent, gardeners can drop
off their vegetables and fruits once a week to feed needy local residents.
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Historic Bethabara
Park has the only known example of a reconstructed
half-acre colonial community
garden.
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In South Carolina, Greenville County Master Gardeners have created a community
garden to feed local residents. Master Gardeners Carol McLaurin and Kris Burton,
with help and encouragement from Master Gardener Jim Wilson, a gardening celebrity
and spokesperson for the "Plant a Row" program, organized their fellow Master
Gardeners to create a community garden in the backyard of the Project Host Soup
Kitchen downtown. Nine raised beds located just a few steps from the kitchen
provide fresh vegetables from spring to early winter.
Everyone is welcome to work in the garden and no prior experience is required,
Ms. McLaurin says. "Besides Master Gardeners, we've had all kinds of local groups
and individuals sharing their time here."
These modern community gardens have their roots in Historic Bethabara Park in
Winston-Salem, the site of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina and
the oldest community garden in the country. Dating to 1759, Historic Bethabara
Park has the only known example of a reconstructed half-acre colonial community
garden. Because it's also a demonstration site for visitors, those who rent
the plots must follow the traditions of the Moravians. According to Dick Aesycue,
a community garden volunteer, gardeners "must plant diagonally across the rectangular
beds."
Also, they can grow only vegetables from an approved list, which doesn't include
tomatoes and corn. Tomatoes were considered poisonous by the Moravians and others
in the 18th century. (In fact, tomatoes weren't relished as food in North America
until the 1830s). Corn wasn't planted because it was considered a field crop,
suitable only for animal feed. "Other than those two vegetables, everything
else is fair game, including flowers and herbs." Mr. Aesycue's plots reflect
his fondness for peppers, notably chilies, bell peppers, cayenne, jalapeno,
and Hungarian wax banana peppers.
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"First,
we want to have a variety of fresh, home-grown vegetables available to our residents.
Second, we're here to have fun!"
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Despite having to follow Moravian traditions in the presence of visitors, gardening
at Historic Bethabara Park has been an enriching experience for Mr. Aesycue.
"It takes perseverance, sweat and labor, but it's great exercise. Besides, it's
a lot of fun for me and for those who visit to get a peek into the past to see
how people gardened over 200 years ago."
A much younger, 21st Century community garden was created at Sun City Hilton
Head in Bluffton, South Carolina. The residents of this state-of-the-art retirement
community enjoy the same benefits common to all who participate in a community
garden: fresh produce and flowers, exercise, and fellowship. Their gardening
group, organized by Bob and Nancy Ann Ciehanski, calls themselves the "Okatie
Farmers." They rent garden plots to residents for a nominal fee.
"The purpose of our community garden is twofold," says Mr. Ciehanski. "First,
we want to have a variety of fresh, home-grown vegetables available to our residents.
Second, we're here to have fun!" A long waiting list for gardening acreage has
prompted the Ciehanskis and Sun City staff to begin planning more space than
its current 54 plots.
My gardening experiences, coupled with the stories and adventures of other gardeners,
have led to an important discovery: Gardening feeds the body and nurtures the
soul. I hope you feel the same way as you embark on your own soulful journey
as a new southern gardener in the Carolinas.
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Bob Polomski is the author of the best-selling regional gardening book,
Month-by-Month
Gardening in the Carolinas.
State Coordinator of the South Carolina Master Gardener
Program, Mr. Polomski also is a Clemson Extension horticulturist at Clemson
University. His numerous publications range from scientific papers to magazine
and newspaper articles. Read his columns in South Carolina Farmer, The Anderson
Independent-Mail and Horticulture. Mr. Polomski may be contacted at bplmsk@clemson.edu.
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