JOHNSON CITY PARKS AND RECREATION
CARVER PEACE GARDEN: PLANTING A LIFESTYLE
ADMINISTRATION HIGHLIGHTS
ATHLETIC DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS
PARK SERVICES DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS
GOLF DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS
RECREATION SERVICES DIVISIN HIGHLIGHTS
A Walk in the Park Your Parks and Recreation Connection I S S U E
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O C T O B E R
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Carver Peace Garden: Planting a Lifestyle There is a special garden near downtown Johnson City where those proficient in the cultivating craft are sharing their knowledge and inspiring youngsters to reap what they sow. Master Gardeners with the Northeast Tennessee Master Gardener Association are meeting once a week this fall at the Carver Peace Garden with kids in Carver Recreation Center’s summer and afterschool programs. The goal: to teach them effective scientificbased gardening techniques in order to be lifelong gardeners. Children have opportunities to plant, care for and harvest their own vegetables. They also observe other gardeners’ plots to learn about plant care, biodiversity, ecosystems, basic gardening skills and the satisfaction of growing your own plants and vegetables. Fall plantings include broccoli, spinach, collards, chard and other lettuces. “The goal of the Carver Youth Gardening Program really is to help them become lifetime gardeners,” Shilling said. “There are studies that show gardening is therapeutic and helps to decrease stress. They also get to see the value of following good practices, and the activity provides the freshest, best-tasting vegetables available. It helps to have some professional teachers on the team, because they make it more fun for the children.” The Carver Peace Garden was created in 2006. For a small fee, individuals, families or groups can rent garden beds to grow flowers or vegetables, working their garden bed to take their harvests for themselves or donating them. In 2020, Carver Supervisor Herb Greenlee and Shilling conceived the idea of transitioning the way crops were grown from traditional in-ground to raised-bed gardening. A group of like-minded gardeners with various backgrounds came together to develop a site plan and pull the project together with support from the Johnson City Parks and Recreation Department. Once a garden with only six in-ground plots, the Carver Peace Garden has grown to more than 70 4’x4 and four 4’x8’ raised-bed gardens. Many gardeners rent beds at Carver due to conditions at their homes not being suitable for raising plants. This may be due to poor soil conditions and/or limitations of sun or plot size. East Tennessee State University Quillen Medical Students also care for a bed and for several years have donated their harvests to the city’s One Acre Café.