Davidson Community Garden asbestos cleanup comlete

aShortChronicle previously told readers about a minor amount of asbestos found near the DCG as part of the ongoing EPA efforts related to the Metrolina Warehouses effort and its decades ago asbestos factory.  No asbestos was found in the actual food producing area of the garden, but off to the side where digging has never really occurred.

The scheduled cleanup happened over a few days.  Here are some photos of the progress.

Day 1 - Top several inches of soil removed and a layer of sand placed on the ground.

Day 2 - New topsoil put down.

Day 3 - New sod.

Davidson Community Garden roadwork and minor asbestos cleanup almost complete

There has been a lot of activity at the Davidson Communkty Garden these past several weeks beyond just the harvests being brought in for the Ada Jenkins food pantry.

With the help of the Town Public Works Department, the landscaping and fence along Potts street was moved back to make way got the eventual Potts-Sloan-Beaty road project.  All reports are that the plants are doing well.  Also, some additional raised bed boxes have been installed which will prevent the loss of food production capacity.

All in all, what initially sounded like a change that could have significant implications, turned out to not be that bad.

Coming this week, there will also be some activity related to the ongoing asbestos cleanup being done by the EPA at a number of properties in the West Side neighborhood.

After testing the garden, the EPA did find trace amounts of  asbestos in the portion of the property closest to the road and fortunately not where food is produced and digging occurs.  Here is the latest information from the weekly garden email blast

A few weeks ago, a man from the EPA came by the garden to talk to us about asbestos testing results. Because of asbestos discovered near the warehouse on Depot Street, the EPA started testing properties nearby. They tested at the Community Garden and found no traces of asbestos in the garden area. In the grassy area from the picnic table to the road, however, they found the minimal testable level for EPA clean-up. EPA workers will come to the garden this Thursday and Friday to remove the top foot of soil, replace it with new soil, then lay turf and mulch. The positive outcome of this is (1) no traces of asbestos in the gardening areas and (2) a renewed grassy area!

aShortChronicle contacted the EPA to see if more detail was available.  According to EPA's Davina Marriccini, "EPA collected 2 composite samples in the community garden, one in the garden area itself and one north of the garden where the mulch, compost bins and picnic tables are located. Asbestos was found in the sample north of the garden at the lowest detectable level (detection limit of 0.25% at the 3-6" interval). EPA has coordinated with the property owner and the community group that oversees the garden to schedule cleanup within the next few weeks and answer questions. There is no immediate risk to people working in the garden harvesting vegetables. Please remember to wash hands and vegetables after working the garden."

Cleanup is scheduled for later this week.

Davidson Community Garden impacted by road work

Thursday morning, Connie and Eddie Beach sent out the below as part of the weekly message to volunteers at the Davidson Community Garden on Potts Street this week.

"Some of you have asked about the stakes that got placed in the garden recently.  To improve safety and visibility for pedestrians and vehicles, the Town of Davidson is adding sidewalks and crosswalks on Potts and Catawba.  This is requiring some street widening, which will have an impact on the perimeter of the garden.  We met this Wednesday with Doug Wright, Public Works Director for the Town.  Doug reassured us of the Town's intent to minimize the impact on the garden and to help with moving the plants and fences.  The timing of the project is still uncertain, but Doug said he would be happy to send out more information to the volunteers in the next few weeks.  As with any renovation, it will present its challenges, but we feel it will be an asset when it is finished.  It will be safer for the flower-tenders as they work outside the beds, keep the soil from washing, and also make the community garden more of a good walking destination."

aShortChronicle checked with Wright to see if we could find out more.  Regular readers may remember that the town and NCDOT had to do a bit of Three Card Monte to get the funding fully approved for this work.  See "Untangling the Bonus Allocation Riddle" from October 2016.  As part of this, the Town temporarily transferred Potts Street to the NCDOT so it could qualify for Federal matching dollars requiring the project be on a State road.  Once done the road will be transferred back to the Town.

We asked Wright if there were any NCDOT requirements that were impacting the project since this is technically a state road at this point.

Here's what he had to say:

"Potts is now a state-maintained road, to help administer the Potts-Beaty-Sloan project.  When that is done it comes back to the town, as the state is always interested in handing local roads to local municipalities.  I have not even spoken to the state about the project impacting the Community Garden.   Kimley-Horn is designing the PBS Corridor for the NCDOT; Dewberry has designed the Potts-Catawba intersection for the town.  The need for improvements exists now, and the critical dimension is the 5-ft width required for sidewalk."

So, while this project is happenings now largely as part of the larger I77 HOT Lanes Bonus Allocation funded Potts-Sloan-Beaty Connector project, this particular intersection work is apparently being handled by the town.  While aShortChronicle does not disagree this intersection needs some work, we do have to wonder if the town could not do it with less impact to what has become a real gem of Davidson.

If there is any good news out of this, it is that based on the stakes that have been placed, it does not appear the loss of space will significantly impact the garden's production.  The DCG has become the main source of fresh produce for the food pantry st the Ada Jenkins Center, so at least people in need won't be impacted by this project.

Check out the below pictures to see exactly what will need to be moved.  Anything on the street side of the orange flagged stakes will need to go which includes most of the mature flower on the site.

Citizens giving back in #Davidson

There are lots of great things about living in Davidson, but one of the best is the people.  Citizens here regularly take it upon themselves to do things to make the community better

This week brings updates on a couple of citizen led initiatives previously reported on here at aShortChronicle. 

In early August we told you about the Adopt-A-Cop initiative started locally by Christine Feeney of Davidson.  The effort had s goal of raising $3600 for 6 replacement bullet-proof vests for the DPD.

On Tuesday, Feeney was happy to report that the effort raised $4155, just $45 short of enough for a seventh vest.

Excellent work!  Thanks to all who donated!

Just so there is no confusion, one thing needs to be noted.  The fact that this effort was raising money for vests does not mean the town didn't budget for them.  (Some readers thought that might be the case back in August.)  The funds raised for the vests will allow the town to re-prioritize for other needs.  Officers will get to know however that the vests they are wearing came from citizens who cared enough to give.

In a second, bid of "Good Citizen" news this week, the Davidson Community Garden reports another strong season of food donations to the Ada Jenkins food pantry.  1784 lbs have been donated so far this year, well on the way towards the annual 1-ton goal.

The Davidson Community Garden has become a mainstay of citizen volunteerism as it now ends the seventh summer.  In the most recent email from Connie and Eddie Beach who oversee things, they remind readers of the involvement of Davidson College students who have been a source of volunteers since the beginning.  The garden which was the Brainchild of Connie and Eddie does a great job at bringing in people from all walks of life in Davidson to share in a common goal.

Just a couple of examples if why Davidson is a great place.  If you've got an example people should know about, leave it in the comments.

Davidson Community Garden Back on Fall Scheduled

With Fall just around the corner, the Davidson Community Garden has moved back to its regular Saturday morning schedule.

From Connie and Eddie Beach latest email blast....

Halloo all!

Guess what - it's time to start planting fall seeds and transplants! A group from the Community School of Davidson is coming out Friday to get started on the planting and we'll follow up Saturday. Let's see if between both work sessions we can get six box beds done by Saturday's 11:15 weighing-up time.  Fall plants are the same as spring plants and have generally done really well for us: beets, chard (yeah, but let's cut back on that), kale, carrots, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, collards, and cabbage.

The DCG regularly donates fresh produce to the Loaves and Fishes food pantry at Ada Jenkins.  In recent years this had totalled a full ton annually.

Come on out and pitch in if you are looking for something to do Saturday morning.
Learn about that Southern staple, ocra.  Harvest some beans.  Pick a few flowers.

This is one of the real gems of Davidson.

Check it out!

More Donations and Volunteers for the Davidson Community Garden

Good things keep happening for the Davidson Community Garden.

 

This past week Seasons at the Lake held it's grand opening at its new store just around the corner from the garden.  As part of the festivities the store offered to donate 20% of proceeds from all ornament sales during the event to the DCG effort.  As a sign that the garden has truly become a recognizable and integral part of the Village area, this donation truly came out of the blue.  When asked how it was decided to make this gift, owner Gary Skaggs simply said that he sees the garden every day when driving by and had noticed the regular groups of volunteers on Saturdays.  He thought this donation would be a nice way to contribute.

 

For the record...IT IS!!!

 

...and the volunteers kept coming this weekend. 

 

While the regular volunteer meetings officially ended November 16th, it was great to see a large group of Davidson College students out this past Saturday helping get the garden in shape for winter.  Members of the Alpha Phi Alpha service fraternity and several other students showed up to help get garden beds mulched and turned. 

 

Come springtime, these efforts will have the beds ready to produce again!!!

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."

Davidson Community Garden - A Quarter Ton So Far

Just a quick update on the Davidson Community Garden...

Harvesting is now in full swing.  After Saturday's efforts, DCG will be over 500 lbs delivered to Ada Jenkins - a quarter ton and a quarter way towards the goal of a full ton by year end!  The first big harvest of potatoes was dug up (sorry, no pictures today!), and cantelopes are beginning to come in as well.  That should really bring the weight.  We're also looking at a record tomato harvest this year.

The garden has also started to get some colorful "visibility" around town. Garden coodinator, Connie Beach, sent out the following as part of a recent update to volunteers...

"Stop by Summit Coffee to check out the lovely flowers decorating the tables...they are courtesy of the community garden. The good folks at Summit have been wonderful the last couple of years donating coffee grounds almost every day for the compost pile, so we are delighted they are finding a small
way to benefit from the garden. It's a happy trade!"

Stop by some Saturday morning and see what's happening!  We always need the help!

Davidson Trifecta: DCG, Market "Flash Mob", and Band of Oz

This weekend around town provided a trifecta of examples why Davidson is a great place to live.  As I've said before it's like living in a Norman Rockwell painting at times and this weekend was one of those times.

Davidson Community Garden Off to Great Start!

As of Monday 4/23 DCG will have delivered 135 lbs of food to Ada Jenkins getting off to a great start towards the annual goal of 1 ton of food donated to the food pantry.  Here's a sample of one recent delivery of swiss chard, spinach, and lettuce.  Other produce delivered to date include several 5-gallon buckets of beats and turnips,  carrots, and even a couple heads of cabbage - all of which overwintered.

Davidson Community Garden - Growing Food for a Good Cause

Some Spring Greens

Something on the beaten path...

As part of DUMC's "Great Day of Service", the Davidson Community Garden on Potts street got underway in earnest on Saturday.  Now in its third year and fully built out, the garden is set to donate an increased amount of food to those in need.  It's one of the  unique gems of living in Davidson that residents should check out this spring and summer.