Davidson Community Garden Reaches 1-Ton Goal!

The Harvest that Reached the 1-Ton Goal

On Thursday, The Davidson Community Garden harvested the final pounds needed to reach its annual goal - a ton of food donated to Loaves and Fishes at Ada Jenkins - just in time for Christmas.  Starting in early spring the garden has produced all year long bringing in dozens of new volunteers as well as the many pounds of fresh produce.  The largest harvest in a single weekend was 112lbs in early September.

The credit for all this really goes to Connie and Eddie Beach of South Street.  They have been tireless in their devotion to this worthy cause.  The below is an exerpt from a nomination letter submitted for them for Davidson's "Jack Burney Award" for community service.  While they were not selected this year, with results like this they should be contenders in years to come.

"This nomination is for Connie and Eddie Beach of South Street for their efforts launching the Davidson Community Garden. Connie and Eddie founded the Davidson Community Garden 3 years ago and have worked tirelessly ever since to make the project a success. In three short years the garden has gone from an empty lot by the railroad tracks to a productive garden that will donate nearly a ton of food this year.

Located on Potts street behind Fuel Pizza the garden has quickly become a landmark in the town. This endeavor embodies everything that makes Davidson a wonderful place. The weekly gardening sessions are open to all. It is one of the few places where people from River Run to the West Side regularly congregate. The garden provides educational and service opportunities for students from elementary school up through Davidson College. The garden itself is a form of public art when in full bloom, and it also has numerous stepping stones handcrafted by local elementary school students. The garden feeds the needy through the food pantry at Ada Jenkins with thousands of pounds of fresh produce donated to date. Recently, Summit Coffee has started trying to compost all of its coffee grounds - an effort that started with Eddie regularly taking 5 gallon buckets of grounds to the garden. Connie is constantly thinking of the next thing the garden can do and how it can be improved. She has reached out to every possible resource to gain donated equipment, supplies and seed - even getting several loads of transplants from the North Mecklenburg jail's greenhouse. She also regularly coordinates groups such as the Boy Scouts and High Schoolers from CSD to come out for workdays. Starting this Fall 8th grade classes from CSD will come to the garden regularly to participate.

It is really quite impressive what the two of them have done in a short time with very limited resources. Their leadership has created one of the true gems in Davidson."