By Ed Simmons, Jr.
cpreporter@lcs.net
In an ever-widening spiral of straw and interspersed plants, Caroline's Community Food Program Garden on Lakewood Road in Bowling Green began to take shape Saturday morning. On her hands and knees, with a wicker basket full of tomato plants and wearing a lady's John Deere hat, Community Food Program coordinator Lindsey Williams started off the planting while Noell Rathbun, under a straw sun hat, dug holes ahead of her with a posthole digger. A 2008 graduate of Union Presbyterian Seminary, Lindsey is waiting for a church though she's in no rush because she's enjoying the Quin Rivers job. Noell is currently a seminarian.
While they labored, Lindsey's husband Roy toiled with a shovel digging holes for blueberry bushes. "He plugged along and was a wonderful help," she beamed. Strawberries went in the ground too. Melons, squash and peppers are planned. They've planted five other gardens so far. This one in Bowling Green, the only in Caroline, will serve food pantries at St. Mary's and Bethel U.M.C., as well as the pantry at the Department of Social Services.
The other garden sites are at the Thurman Brisben Center for the homeless, the Fredericksburg Food Bank, two other Fredericksburg locations and one in Essex. Stimulus money and donations funded the effort, which First Lady Michelle Obama has promoted across the nation, with 115 local volunteers helping the Quin Rivers effort. The goal in the Fredericksburg-Caroline-Essex area is to cultivate a total of two acres, and perhaps plant more gardens.
To hone her gardening skills, Lindsey took the spring Virginia Master Gardener Course at the Hanover Extension Office, and she encourages other ambitious, as well as fledgling gardeners to take the class too. Another will be offered this fall, and again next January. For volunteers who'd enjoy getting their knees a little dusty at the Bowling Green garden, regular gardening hours are Saturday mornings from 9 to noon, starting May 1. After the pantry needs are met, volunteers are welcome to take home surplus produce.
Questions? Call Lindsey at 633-5071, Extension 353. Volunteer, and you too can help others while working the earth and mastering your gardening skills.