The Sweet Briar Community Garden

In the late fall of 2001, Cliff and Rebecca Ambers and Mark Campbell surveyed faculty and staff to see if there would be any interest in setting up a community garden on campus. There was a great deal of interest, and the hard work began on a small plot of land above the Sweet Briar Dairy. A generous contribution from an anonymous alumna allowed us to surround the garden with a solar-powered electric fence (no electric lines run to the garden).

From an unappetizing field covered with brush to the inaugural season in the spring of 2002, an incredible transformation took place. We even had a vineyard! The garden today continues to grow, both in the number of members and in our community projects. In 2004 we built a pavilion where a rotting shed once stood. Last year, a donated solar-powered lawnmower was used to provide the pavilion with electricity. This year we are building a greenhouse. You can see a photographic history of the garden online, at: http://sbcg.sbc. edu/photos/history/.

The needs of the garden are supported by nominal dues paid by the members and by a number of fundraising activities we have undertaken over the years. We began by making our signature hot sauce available to supporters of the garden. This started as a means of doing something with everybody’s surplus of hot peppers following the first gardening season. Cliff Ambers supplied the recipe and did most of the work that first year. We continued the hot sauce project for several years and still have folks asking when we will have more. Last year, under the leadership of garden director, Tim Kasper, we began a new fundraising venture: a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that supplies our organic produce to local subscribers. We still are getting the hang of this, but the 2007 season looks promising, and we hope to be able to expand our list of subscribers in 2008.

What is it like to belong to the Community Garden? Although I am not normally given to hyperbole, I would have to say that the garden, at least for me, has been a life-changing experience. The garden is far more than a place to plant vegetables: it is a gathering place where people from across the campus community work, share gardening and cooking tips, and celebrate the seasons. Summer workdays generally include a potluck dinner, and festivities (most notably the Cinco de Mayo party) stretch well into the night with a bonfire and lots of music.

I am convinced that our recent foray into the realm of fall and winter gardening is due as much to our desire to keep things going throughout the year as it is to our desire for homegrown vegetables in the winter. I suspect that the key element of the Sweet Briar Community Garden is as much “Community” as it is “Garden.”