Heather Bell
RADFORD – The Radford Community Garden has offered citizens a public growing space for the past 10 years, and its organizer is excited to be gearing up for the upcoming season.
In 2010, James Graham has been overseeing the community garden, and he says he could not be prouder of where the garden is today.
“I have a great feeling of accomplishment that I was able to organize and create a place for citizens to enjoy healthy outdoor exercise and at the same time raise healthy organic food,” said Graham. “I have been amazed at the interest in the garden by the citizens.”
“It has been a labor of love as I have been a gardener since I was a teen ager,” Graham continued.
He explains the garden started in 2010 “in the area where a baseball field now exists near the boat launch along the trail by the New River.”
“The original garden consisted of ten 20- by 20-foot plots and was quickly filled by Radford citizens,” said Graham. “Unfortunately, that site did not have a fence so competition with wild animals made it difficult to harvest all the vegetables.”
The garden made a special upgrade two years later when, in 2012, the City of Radford and the Pepper Ferry Regional Waste Water Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding allowing the city to use a plot of land near the Radford Pump Station on Pulaski Street for the purposes of the community garden. Graham says the current space was a big upgrade from the original.
“The site has a six-foot fence enclosing it, has a gate that is locked at all times, and sufficient space for more plots than in the original location,” Graham said. “The number of plots has grown over the past seven years to its current size of 42 plots.”
Sign up for the 2019 gardening season will begin on March 11, 2019 in the Radford Administration Office.
Plots are assigned in the order of sign up with priority given to those who previously had a plot. Gardeners who sign for a plot are given a rules and regulations document, which defines their responsibilities in great detail as is necessary in such an undertaking, said Graham.
The plots cost $20 for the 20- by 20-foot size and $10 for the 20 by 10-foot size. Graham says the fee provides for “plowing in the fall, tilling just before the planting season, and any necessary clean up after the growing season.”
“Many of the same gardeners have been in the Community Garden for years and a comradery exists as they all have a common interest,” he said. “A variety of vegetables is grown each year with tomatoes, green beans, and various greens being the most popular.”
