The community garden at Community High School is up and running! There are some plots that are solely for the students and currently 6 garden plots that are for area residents, with room to expand and build new beds. Currently 4 beds have been adopted by area residents (Southern Barton Heights, Highland Park, North Central) and 2 beds have been planted for sharing. On June 9th, HandsOn Greater Richmond brought a group of corporate volunteers that donated $5,000 for materials. Projects were led by the James River Association (NCCA Member Amber Ellis is JRA's Watershed Restoration Manager), GroundworkRVA, and Richmond Parks Department. Projects included building new garden beds and filling with planting soil, building a new compost bin, cleaning up the greenhouse, trash cleanup, building an insect hotel next to the pollinator garden, removing invasive English Ivy from large trees and planting native trees, shrubs, and perennials in the Cannon Creek Greenway.
Amber is working closely with Summer Shultz, a teacher at Community High School. The next project will be planting fruit and nut trees this fall with funding from the Richmond Tree Stewards Community Roots program and will be led by Amber Ellis. Other potential future projects could include building more beds, planting fruiting shrubs, installing a native plant meadow to support pollinators, building a new trail that connects the garden to the Cannon Creek Greenway, invasive plant removal, and planting the fruit/nut trees. Amber will be setting up a meeting within the next few months with other groups (i.e. GroundworkRVA, City, EnRichmond, Community High School, Shalom Farms, etc.) to discuss potential partnering, resources, and vision.
If you are interested in a garden plot, future volunteer days, or in garden program visioning please email Amber at amberelli@gmail.com
Amber is working closely with Summer Shultz, a teacher at Community High School. The next project will be planting fruit and nut trees this fall with funding from the Richmond Tree Stewards Community Roots program and will be led by Amber Ellis. Other potential future projects could include building more beds, planting fruiting shrubs, installing a native plant meadow to support pollinators, building a new trail that connects the garden to the Cannon Creek Greenway, invasive plant removal, and planting the fruit/nut trees. Amber will be setting up a meeting within the next few months with other groups (i.e. GroundworkRVA, City, EnRichmond, Community High School, Shalom Farms, etc.) to discuss potential partnering, resources, and vision.
If you are interested in a garden plot, future volunteer days, or in garden program visioning please email Amber at amberelli@gmail.com
