Charlotte's community gardens are in high demand
Plus: The news of the week — Silver Line cutback brings blowback; Police give report on deadly shootout; Charlotte's Chuck E. Cheese band rocks on; City's big breweries crank up production
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Spring makes even non-gardeners dream of growing things. That’s the thinking behind Backyard & Beyond, our occasional series of stories giving you ideas and inspiration. Whether you long to grow some of your own food, ditch your cookie-cutter landscaping or just make your yard more welcoming, we’re here for you!
Shared gardens are so popular that plots are scarce, and many have waitlists. The county hopes to expand the program.
by Amber Veverka
Kathleen Jonila is a gardener in a townhome — which is to say, she’s a gardener without a piece of ground. But Jonila years ago discovered a solution that’s become wildly popular locally: community gardens.
Jonila may have a small, shaded courtyard at her home, but she happily tends four small, raised beds with a mix of flowers and vegetables at Fullwood Community Garden in Matthews.
“It’s a very convenient way to garden,” she said, taking a visitor on a tour of the rest of the site, located at Pineville-Matthews Road and Covenant Church Lane. Tasseled stalks of corn stood proudly in one person’s plot; a trellis arced over tomatoes in another. Someone else had mulched their bed with burlap coffee bags. “You can learn a lot from other gardeners,” Jonila said.
As the greater Charlotte area becomes ever more densely developed — and, as in some older neighborhoods, the tree canopy shades more of the space — more residents are looking for creative ways to grow the plants they love.
Kathleen Jonila, at her plot in Fullwood Community Garden in Matthews. (Veverka photo.)
About 500 gardeners tend plots at the 20 community gardens Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation operates. Churches and neighborhood groups operate more. The gardens offer those without suitable yards the chance to grow vegetables, fruit, flowers and, sometimes, friendship.
Larry and Marcia Lane are garden captains at Reedy Creek Community Garden, which has 76 plots, making it the largest in the county system. The Lanes have rented space since about 2009 because their yard is shaded.
“We’ve grown everything,” Larry said. “Tomatoes of all kinds, watermelon, corn, squash, lettuce, beans. One year, we tried artichokes.”
Now the couple is “very pollinator-focused,” as Marcia put it, filling their plot with flowers they grow from seed.
The Lanes appreciate the chance to garden, but what they really enjoy is getting to know other gardeners. Reedy has a richly diverse group of gardeners, ranging from longtime residents to recent immigrants from countries that include Cameroon. “We have families who started bringing kids as infants,” said Marcia. “Think about it as broader than putting plants and seeds in the ground — it’s part of a community.”
The catch: The community garden is a community that can be tough to join.
Waitlists common
Every day, Tim Turton fields two or three requests for space in Mecklenburg County-run gardens. “Ninety percent are at full capacity right now,” said Turton, who oversees the program for the county. “It’s been a huge year for gardening requests — it started in December, really.”
At least you can get on a waitlist for a county-run garden. Matthews has just two community gardens, and a notice on the county website says the waitlist is full and no applications are being accepted.
“People call all the time. Welcome to my job,” said Daniel Carpenter, parks coordinator in Matthews. Carpenter recently looked at the waitlist to see who was at the top. “The next (person) to be contacted applied in 2020,” he said.
It’s not as simple as a city or county plowing up some spare ground and inviting people in. Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation tries to include community gardens when it opens a new park, or to expand the number of plots at existing sites. The site needs to be level, sunny, have access to water and a way for county trucks to deliver mulch and other materials, said Bert Lynn, capital planning division director for Park & Recreation.
The good news for Mecklenburg residents is that the county may be expanding the gardens at Huntingtowne Farms Park in south Charlotte and at Reedy Creek. And there’s an even bigger possible expansion on the horizon.
Park & Recreation is studying the possibility of building an “urban agricultural park” at the site of Amay James Recreation Center on Charlotte’s westside, possibly within the next couple of years. Picture a community garden in overdrive — more space, bigger plots, possibly a greenhouse.
Schools might be able to use the property, as well as people who want to grow on a much bigger scale than community gardens typically allow. “It’s the next level up for sure,” Lynn said.
‘It’s my yard’
Dilworth resident MJ White grows perennial flowers like peonies, coneflowers and phlox in her plot at Dilworth Community Garden and spends about five or six hours a week there. “I love working with my hands in the dirt,” White said. “I live in a condo, so it’s my yard.”
For White, gardening communally has brought the typical frustrations — people who sometimes neglect their plots, for example — but mostly peace and pleasure. “I make bouquets for all my neighbors. It’s totally relaxing,” she said. The garden, she said, “changes all the time.”
As for the Lanes, now some 15 years into their gardening adventures, coming to the community garden is always an eye-opening experience. “Even though we’ve done it for decades,” Marcia said, “there’s always something to learn from someone else.”
Tips for becoming a community gardener
See a map of Mecklenburg community gardens, read the rules and request a plot here.
Be realistic about the time commitment. “It’s a year-round activity. It’s not just two or three months,” Lane said. “The weeds will take over. (Participants) need to be active gardeners and good stewards.”
If you plant it, they will come — insects, that is. Insect pressure can be a lot worse in a community garden than at home, simply because there’s more for bugs to eat. If you notice everyone growing a certain crop is struggling, you may want to choose a different plant.
Show up for the required workdays. “To make it really work, you need to put in that community time as well as your time,” White said.
When you’re working your plot, take time to introduce yourself to others there. It’s a great way to meet like-minded people and pick up gardening tips.
It’s time for …
Feeding hanging baskets. Water leaches nutrients from basket plants quickly, leaving those beautiful bloomers yellowy and weak. Fertilize with compost tea or a commercial fertilizer. Baskets may be root-bound by now. Take them out and add some enriched soil to the basket (you may even need to separate plants out and make the basket a bit leaner).
Pruning suckers from tomatoes. Tiny stems that sprout in the “Y” shape between the main stalk and a larger branch take energy from growing fruits. Pinch them off (see photo below). You can even root these in water and plant elsewhere for a whole new plant.
Staking oriental lilies. Lilies like ‘Stargazer’ are tall and full of buds just now – so stake them before a rainstorm topples them – and breaks your heart.
Conserving wildlife in your backyard. Learn about this, plus topics that range from local food to land conservation at the Charlotte Sustainability Summit, Saturday, June 8, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City. Purchase tickets here.
Reach AmberVeverka at askbackyard@gmail.com.
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This week in Charlotte: CMS officials give projects timeline; Sullenberger Aviation Museum to open; State grant ends for LendingTree; Plans revealed for old Duke Energy HQ
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Education
School construction update: (WFAE) Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials provided construction timelines for projects at more than a dozen schools that are part of the $2.5B school bond voters approved last year.
UNC’s diversity vote: (WFAE) The UNC System Board of Governors’ vote to replace the system’s diversity policy with one emphasizing “equality of all persons and viewpoints” has left UNC Charlotte leaders awaiting further instruction on how to comply.
Politics
County cuts property tax increase: (Observer) Mecklenburg County commissioners voted 7-2 to shift an additional $14.7M from the county's fund balance to reduce a proposed property tax increase from 1.5 cents to 1 cent per $100 of valuation in the upcoming budget.
Cost of City Council race topped $400K: (Ledger 🔒) In the hotly contested Charlotte City Council District 6 race last fall, in which Republican Tariq Bokhari narrowly defeated Democrat Stephanie Hand, the candidates collectively spent more than $400,000 in the race.
Local news
Silver Line cutback: (Transit Time, Ledger) Charlotte-area leaders are advancing a revised transit plan that caps spending at 40% of new sales tax revenues, potentially scaling back the Silver Line. Leaders in Matthews and east Charlotte are expressing disappointment and frustration over plans to eliminate the light rail segment between uptown and Matthews.
Report on deadly police shootout: (Associated Press) Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have concluded that there was just one suspect firing shots in the April 29 east Charlotte gun battle that left four officers dead, and that all of the officers were shot by the suspect’s rifle. The gun battle lasted 17 minutes and ended when the suspect jumped out of a second-floor window and was shot to death, police said at a news conference Friday night.
Stepfather found guilty: (Observer) A jury found the stepfather of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari guilty of failing to report her missing after not seeing her in his home for three weeks in 2022.
Business
Economic incentive plan to end for LendingTree: (Raleigh News & Observer) Charlotte-based LendingTree requested that the state of North Carolina end an economic development grant tied to job creation after the company was unable to create jobs under the program. LendingTree said its business and mortgage lending industry are “facing significant challenges/strong headwinds and a difficult operating environment.”
Casino is a go: (Observer) After settling legal disputes, the Catawba tribe plans to begin construction next week of a $700M casino in Kings Mountain that will replace the temporary structure that opened in 2021, according to a press release sent Friday.
Good read
N.C. stingray mystery: (The Assembly) The Hendersonville stingray that was alleged to be pregnant without coming in contact with a male stingray has still not given birth, raising questions from scientists about the claim by the aquarium. When The Assembly sent a reporter there to investigate, the aquarium’s owner called the police. After the article was published, the aquarium owner said the stingray is not pregnant and has a reproductive disease.
From the Ledger family of newsletters
Wednesday (🔒)
Charlotte Chuck E. Cheese animatronic show will go on: The animatronic band at the Chuck E. Cheese near Pineville was one of five bands saved from retirement following public outcry.
Plus: Charlotte’s Big 3 breweries continue cranking up production; New podcast episode on nonprofit tech
Friday (🔒)
Aviation museum to open; Plans for former Duke Energy HQ take shape; New statue on greenway Trail of History
Charlotte FC's offensive shortcomings are showing: Charlotte FC’s recent offensive struggles, exemplified by a 300-minute scoreless streak and scoring only five goals in their last six games, contrast sharply with their strong defensive record. Despite their scoring issues, which see them tied for second-fewest goals in MLS, the team remains in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
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