Local Oxford Gardening Updates: Spring 2009 Students Break Ground on 2009 Teaching Garden

The Teaching Garden at the Oxford Boys and Girls Club is already gearing up for the 2009 growing season. Even though it has been a cool, wet spring, students began tending to the garden plots in late March, pulling winter weeds and preparing the soil in order to begin spring planting. The students were excited to find many beneficial worms and crickets that are already making their presence known in the garden beds. Another topic of great interest has been the wild garlic currently thriving throughout the garden and vying to take over the beds. The students all wanted to save each individual stalk and bulb, no matter how small, to take home to their parents.

We’re beginning to see a theme where the students all want to impress their parents with the work they’ve done by sharing the fruits of their labor with their families. This is an important aspect of the Teaching Garden because the vegetables the students bring home will improve the eating habits of everyone in their household. In terms of actual planting, early crops including red and green lettuce, Brussels sprouts, collards, and rainbow chard were put in around Easter, and broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, and onions are all ready to be planted in the coming weeks.

One of the goals of the 2009 season is to promote more community involvement in the Teaching Garden, and the coming summer holds many opportunities for direct participation. The garden
will be growing from mid-March until late October and daily summer programming runs from late May through late July at the LOU Clubhouse, located on Washington Avenue across the street from Oxford Middle School. Several groups and individuals have already expressed interest in a wide range of volunteer opportunities including assisting with garden tasks and environmental education curriculum, leading nutrition workshops, and helping to improve the garden infrastructure. Anyone interested in suggesting new programming ideas or assisting with current outdoor classroom activities can contact me at cmnicho1@olemiss.edu. We are also currently in the middle of a very loose, open-ended fundraising campaign. Any and all assistance
is always greatly appreciated.

Oxford Community Garden Association Established

Beginning soon, Oxford residents will have a unique gardening opportunity. This spring a group of like-minded individuals established the Oxford Community Garden Association, and in a few short weeks the organization received approval from the city to create Oxford’s first community garden plot. The initiative will work closely with the Oxford Parks Commission to establish a 65-by-155 foot garden space to be located behind the Old Armory Building on University Avenue. The garden will operate much like similar projects in other cities across the country in that families and individuals will be able to pay a small fee to “rent” a specific garden row for a full year. These projects are particularly attractive to people and students who would like to grow their own vegetables but don’t have gardening space at their apartments, dorms, or houses. Community gardens are great opportunities for community members to interact with each other through a shared love of locally grown food and hard, but fulfilling work. Organizers plan to prepare the garden infrastructure this summer so that beds will be ready for planting in spring 2010. To learn more about the Oxford Community Garden, write to oxfordcga@gmail.com or call Association president Susie Adams at 662-234-2744 ext. 267.

Cale Nicholson