LOCAL
Growing a Green Thumb: Garden Walk 2019 invites all to explore community garden BY CIERRA CRAFT | PHOTOS BY BREANNA WILSON
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he Plant City Commons Community Garden, in collaboration with Leadership Plant City, is hosting Garden Walk 2019 on April 26 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. The event encourages the community to visit the garden, located at 2001 E. Cherry Street, and experience the peaceful environment created when surrounded by nature. The Plant City Commons Community Gardens was previously located at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, but once the lease for the use of land was up, co-founder Karen Elizabeth began looking for a new space for the garden. “I visited the botanical gardens at HCC, which was built by UF’s Horticultural program, but they did away with the classes due to enrollment, so the garden wasn’t maintained,” said Elizabeth. “So, I visited the space again and met with Dr. Clay and the advisory council
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and they were on board to bring the community garden to HCC.” Elizabeth says the community garden and botanical gardens are maintained on a volunteer basis and the group is excited for this partnership with Leadership Plant City. “We are fortune this leadership class has taken a notice of our mission,” said Elizabeth. Leadership Plant City is a Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce program, where the class members are tasked with choosing a group project that must benefit the common good. Leadership Plant City class member and Communications Coordinator for the Chamber Breanna Wilson said the class chose the garden as their group project after visiting the site. “Back in December, the 2019 class visited the garden during “Health, Wellness, and Services”
day,” said Wilson. “We met that evening to discuss our project and decided as a group that we wanted to be involved in the garden so that we could share it with our community at large.” The Leadership Class helped prepare the garden for new concrete walkways and laid new weed cloth on March 16. As a class, Wilson said the group is rehabbing and updating the area, revamping some of their social media pages, and then hosting the Garden Walk on April 26. Karen Elizabeth says she hopes the Garden Walk will not only raise awareness of the garden’s location, but also increase membership and enrollment in the Plant City Commons Community Garden’s workshops. “We offer workshops on bees, composting, and we have a seed library,” said Elizabeth. “Members of the garden have their own garden beds, including soil and irrigation for $35 per year.” While there is not an admission
fee, guests to Garden Walk 2019 are asked to make a donation at the door. Then, attendees will be taken on a tour around the garden and explore the various areas. Complimentary food will be available following the walk and vendors will be on hand selling crafts and other goods. Get the most out of your visit to the Plant City Commons Community Gardens by following these tips from Karen Elizabeth: • Wear flat close toed shoes. • There are mosquitoes in the evening. You may want repellent. • No smoking inside the gardens, please. Use the parking lot for that activity. • Respect the Gardens by NOT picking flowers, fruits, vegetables, leaves or seeds, walking in flower beds, or climbing trees. • No pets (except for service animals) • We love to share, so ask many questions.