By DOTTY NIST
Creating a community garden in south Walton County may be a challenge, but not for a lack of green thumbs and willing hands.
The South Walton Tourist Development Council’s (TDC) Nov. 5 Environmental Forum, the first to be devoted to the topic of “Growing Locally with Community Gardens,” was the organization’s most successful so far, drawing 120 participants, not to mention a number of enthusiastic workshop leaders.
The E.O. Wilson Biophilia Center near Freeport was a tailor-made venue for the event. “This is what the facility is all about,” the center’s owner and creator, Walton County conservationist M.C. Davis, told the participants.
“A garden will bring a community together,” said Walton County District 5 Commissioner Cecilia Jones. She promised to find land in south Walton County for a community garden if, as a result of the event, an effort for such a garden “took root.”
A successful community garden is already in existence near the water tower in DeFuniak Springs.
There were a number of interesting workshops at the Nov. 5 event, providing information that gardeners will be able to put to use in their home gardens while envisioning a community garden. Workshop topics ranged from encouraging helpful insects, to garden design, to worm farming, to the “slow food” movement and preserving produce. A locally-produced lunch and refreshments were served.
Eric Draper, deputy director for the National Audubon Society, provided the keynote address.
Draper, a self-described “lifelong gardener,” covered not only the joys and benefits of community gardening, but its challenges, including how to balance food production with a healthy environment.
Draper urged attendees to pay attention to where the food they eat comes from and support more sustainable local food alternatives. Community gardens can also be such an alternative, he said.
Draper called community gardens “a cure for what ails us,” an opportunity for families who don’t often share meals at home to spend time together and get some good exercise. “Community gardening will give us a sense of place,” he added.
Draper warned against loading up local sandy soils with nutrients in order to obtain a soil like Ohio’s. Ohio soil can’t be created locally, and trying to do so causes pollution when fertilizer is carried off with runoff into the watershed and water bodies, he explained.
“Sandy soils are a blessing,” Draper said. He recommended growing “the right plant in the right place,” watering and using fertilizer sparingly and efficiently.
Draper concluded with “the perfect tomato” as a metaphor for community gardening, which, he told the gathering, combines abundance, being with people we want to spend time with, and having a positive impact on the world.
While the forum revealed significant interest in a community garden south of the bay, a location for a south Walton community garden remains to be identified. A volunteer to take the lead in setting up the garden is also being sought. For information or to help with this effort, contact the Walton County Extension Service at (850) 892-8172.
Dotty Nist can be contacted at beachbreezenews@gmail.com