Community Garden Shapes up for Spring

The month of April has been busy for volunteers and Sustainable Norcross members at the city's community garden.

The Norcross Community Garden, which has been at its College Street location behind the since last summer, has plans to donate food to five families this year.

This month, two beds were added to help the families through the Latin American Association, which is located next to the garden. On Saturday at 9 a.m., in conjunction with the , the parents and 12 children of the families will work on the gardens and get them ready for planting a variety of organic vegetables for their personal kitchens.

Sustainable Norcross Chairwoman Connie Weathers said that corn has already been donated for the project, and they hope to get other vegetables, too, including cilantro and tomatoes.

After the beds are finished for the day, two rain barrel classes will be available, one for the 12 children and another for other festival goers.

In addition to helping out the families in the community, beautifying the area is also at the top of the Norcross Community Garden list. Since the start of the month, a white fence and a concrete path have been added to spruce up the landscape, following the blueprint created by Gardens by Design partners Julie Foster and Linda Edwards.

Since the project is on a shoestring budget, everything has been either donated or repurposed--funds for the fence were given by The Whistle Stop Farmers Market and Downtown Development Association Design Committee, and the path is from concrete chunks found in the forest area behind the . The fence is finished, but the path still needs stepable plants or mulch, which volunteers plan to do soon.

While the families will be setting up their vegetables beds Saturday, Weathers and Crawley said it will be a regularly work day for them. The gardens will continue to be worked on during the Blossom Tour, and they welcome others willing to donate time and hands, too.

For those interested in helping out the Norcross Community Garden, whether it's during the Blossom Festival or another day, contact Connie Weathers at 770-246-0083 and sustainablenorcross@gmail.com.