Who We Are We are a community garden located in MLK, Jr. Park off of Hillsborough Road in Carrboro, NC. You don't have to be a skilled gardener to join us, we're happy to teach you what we know! Some of our gardeners started out having never grown anything, while others have managed large-scale farms. You don't need to bring your own tools (though you're welcome to), just yourself and a willingness to work!
Our Garden Practices Most of the garden is composed of row crops, though we have some larger areas where we're trying our hand at growing pumpkins and other vegetables that require more space. We do not use conventional fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides in the garden, relying instead on compost donated from CompostNow, "good" insects eating "bad" ones, leaf mulch provided by the Town of Carrboro, and manual labor to keep our crops healthy. Our water for irrigating crops comes from cisterns that harvest rainwater from the roofs of buildings within MLK, Jr. Park. The day's harvest is divided among that day's gardeners and, if sufficient to justify a delivery, to one of our local shelters or food banks.
Garden with Us Generally speaking, here's when we're working in the garden:
During the growing season (roughly April - October) Saturdays: 8:00am - 12:00pm Wednesday: 6:00pm - 7:30pm (this changes a lot, please sign-up for our listserv to stay informed)
During the winter (roughly November - March) Saturdays 9:00am - 12:00pm
Times and days are subject to change based on weather. Due to past problems, the garden gate is locked on non-work days to protect food and infrastructure. To stay up-to-date on work days and times, please subscribe to our listserv by sending an email (no need to write anything in the subject or body) to [email protected] or visit our Facebook page to see what the plan is for that week.
Funding The garden is self-funded by members. You don't have to pay to participate, but if you have the ability to do so, we ask that each gardener contribute $40.00 per year to help with general maintenance (like repairing our fence), purchasing supplies (tools, compost) as needed, and covering an insurance policy required by the Town. We also welcome in-kind donations such as tools and seeds. Any plants that are not direct-seeded into beds are grown by members who have sunshine at home, so if you're interested in starting plants please let us know!
Due to past problems, the garden gate is locked on non-work days to protect food and infrastructure. To stay up-to-date on work days and times, please join our listserv by sending an email (no need to write anything in the subject or body) to [email protected]