Gene's Carver Garden Blog

In 2022, One Valley, Inc. received a grant from the American Rescue Plan Act through LEAP. This year looks to be a year of transition, using these funds to improve our weed control, to automate irrigation and to expand to a second site on the SE corner of 8th & Gilmer Streets.

January and February saw us planning the transition, ordering supplies, building the base for a new tool shed, and emptying the raised beds so that they could be underlain with a weed-blocking landscape fabric.

03/05/22: we began the process of stockpiling soil from the raised beds, and moving the beds in order to install the landscape fabric.

03/26/22: A group of REACH volunteers helped move some of the raised beds on top of the newly installed landscape fabric. After that, they mixed the stockpiled soil with some peat and compost and started refilling the beds.

They also laid landscape fabric along the outside of the garden fence.

Later that day, we celebrated the start of a new planting season with the REACH volunteers, some of the FTGU participants from last summer, and some Home Depot employees who had delivered donated supplies to the garden.

03/30/22: Carver gardeners installed and levelled a second row of raised beds and filled them with the soil mixture.

04/08-09/22: Shawn, with VCES, helped us to lay irrigation lines in the orchard area.

Landscape fabric was laid along the inside fence and the last two raised beds were placed on top, perlite was added to some of the raised beds, and drip irrigation lines installed in the two rows of raised beds.

That chilly afternoon, after morning flurries disappeared, a small crew performed our first Adopt-A-Street cleanup.

04/11/22: Shawn and Gene used a rotary plow to shape the un-ground beds which will be solarized to kill the wire grass and Johnson grass, before planting for the fall.

04/15/22: Landscape fabric was laid along the edges of the in-ground beds to provide some drainage, once the impervious silage tarp is put in place.

04/23/22: A waterproof silage tarp was placed on top of the in-ground beds and secured with rocks and sand bags, while the remaining raised beds were filled with the soil mix.

04/24/22: Volunteers from the Loudon Avenue Christian Church (LACC) helped remove remaining stockpiled soil and smoothed a section of the garden as part of their day of service.

They helped install additional landscape fabric and to move the greenhouse from the orchard to it’s new location.

Later that afternoon, RAISE coordinated a seasonal blessing of the garden.

05/09/22: Landscape fabric was installed in part of the orchard area.

05/17/22: A group of Best Buy Regional Directors volunteered at the garden as part of their regional meeting and helped with weeding and with laying cardboard and wood chips around the blackberries and raspberries in the orchard area.

06/03/22: Vegetation was removed along the remaining fence line behind 525 Loudon and landscape fabric installed.

06/04/22: Our Adopt-A-Street crew performed our first complete 5-block area cleanup.

06/17/22: Amazetta works with some students to harvest salad greens for RAM house.

Along the Creekside fence, Arthur knocked down the extensive vegetation and Gene removed the remaining cover and roots before covering with landscape fabric.

The first part of the fence line along 6th street is completely weeded.

06/28/22: A group of youth and adults from the Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church prepare cardboard for mulching, while others prepare to plant in a raised bed.

Other volunteers laid cardboard and woodchips around the blueberries.

They then learned about building a compost pile.

A tired, but happy, crew at the end of the day.