Oakland High School Community Garden groundbreaking event
Since the advent of the Industrial Age our agricultural heritage has slowly been going by the wayside, as fewer families have personal gardens at their residences, and farming is done at an increasingly larger scale. However, there has been a movement taking place across America to get back to our farming roots at the individual level and become more in tune with our food instead of mindlessly eating without much thought given to the source of the food. This shift has local community garden efforts growing.
Ken Dalton, who heads the garden ministry and manages the facilities maintenance for Parkway Baptist Church in Smyrna, oversees the church community garden where members of the church not only garden in their own plots but also for the Smyrna Food Bank and The Journey Home Ministry in Murfreesboro. Set on 20 acres of land that was once a working farm, Parkway Baptist has dedicated about three acres to church members who work not only in their own 30-by-15-foot plot but also come over to work in the ministry garden, where produce is grown for the outreach program.
As to why the church has seen this as a priority for the community, Dalton says, “To show love to the community that we live in. We want to reach out to the people in the community. . . . This is not the only ministry that we have that helps folks; we have other ministries outside of this one, but this is just one way that we can do it.”
Oakland High School senior Mia Huell also wants to reach out to the local community. As part of her IB (International Baccalaureate) program, in which she had to develop and implement a project that would affect her community, Huell decided in her junior year to create a community garden at Oakland. All of Huell’s IB teachers have proved helpful in assisting her with carrying out her vision, but she credits Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Tucker as being the most influential.
Huell (center) with Oakland High School garden volunteers
Huell’s idea began when she first learned about food deserts in America where many don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. This idea has since expanded to the point where she would like to see her program be more inclusive of other schools and programs, not just at the high school level but at the middle school and grade school levels as well. Taking a step in that direction, the community garden at Oakland High School already has the help of two departments, the IB department and the Special Education Department of Oakland High School, where her brother assists in their community garden.
“I will be able to leave and come back two or three years later and (the garden will) not just be there, but be bigger and better than what I started,” Mia shares regarding her vision. “It’s for the community.”
Autumn Shultz, president of the Murfreesboro Community Garden, is also trying to make a difference in her own corner of the world. The Murfreesboro Community Garden is located at Key Memorial United Methodist Church where the church has allowed the organization to not only use some land but provide the water as well. Wanting to grow her own garden with her husband and daughter but limited by her housing, Shultz started researching ways of gardening in the community in 2011. Recruiting others interested in gardening, the nonprofit organization has grown exponentially since its small beginnings in 2013. Though they have an actual garden plot, growing produce is no longer the main focus. Now, educating the community about gardening has become a focus. With other members of the board, Shultz goes to schools and summer camps educating children about where their food actually comes from and what it looks like.
Murfreesboro Community Garden
What will stay with her forever “is going to be helping people see where food comes from. And usually the best reactions we get are from the children because they have no idea . . . so when they get to come to the garden and they get to see that a broccoli is actually going to be a flower if you let it keep growing, so that when you eat broccoli you’re eating a flower, they have no idea about that. So their reactions are pretty precious when they learn those things.”
Shultz encourages people to visit the Murfreesboro Community Garden Facebook page for updates on activities and to stay involved, saying, “We love for people to get involved and stay involved. Obviously we love all of our volunteers who stop by for just a day but we’re always looking for people to join the cause and be part of it for the long run, and it doesn’t require that they have to come every Saturday. It’s not a huge commitment,” Shulz emphasizes. “It’s just getting involved with us for a few Saturdays and maybe see if there’s some other way that you can help the organization other than just showing up and working. There are lots of other things on the administrative side that have to happen and we’re definitely open to new board members in that regard.”
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To find out more about the community garden efforts at Oakland High School, reach out to Mia Huell at mia2014.h@outlook.com; for more information on the efforts of the Murfreesboro Community Garden, visit facebook.com/mborogarden or call 615-497-5936; for more on Parkway Baptist Church, call 615-355-8997 or visit pbcsmyrna.org.
