Enlarge Henry Owen, a volunteer with the Friendship Farms and Gardens since its inception.

Posted: September 24th, 2009 James Willamor

A forgotten corner of South End’s warehouse district is alive with activity. A weedy plot of land adjacent to Friendship Trays has been reclaimed and turned into a community garden. Volunteers moved dirt, placed rocks, and built raised planting beds this weekend.

Collaboration between Friendship Trays, Slow Food Charlotte, and the Community Culinary School of Charlotte led to the creation of the Friendship Farms and Gardens in April of this year. The garden was built by volunteers using mostly donated supplies and tools.

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Henry Owen, a volunteer with the garden since its inception, was eager to talk about future plans. Now that the summer harvest is in, Owen says, the entire garden is being rebuilt. The purpose of the garden is to be an educational demonstration of gardening in an urban environment. The garden will also supply some of the food for the Friendship Trays -- a meals-on-wheels program that delivers healthy meals to elderly and disabled residents who are unable to prepare meals themselves.

In addition, students of the Community Culinary School of Charlotte students will get hands-on learning about food production. Owen says the students “will be able to be a part of the process from the seed to the plate.” The Community Culinary School of Charlotte provides unemployed and underemployed with culinary skills for work in the restaurant and catering industry.

Rainwater is collected from a warehouse roof and used to water the garden. The garden can now demonstrate two forms of composting. Owen hopes the garden will soon be able to compost all of the food scraps from Friendship Trays.

Planting of a fall crop is scheduled to start this week, and a fundraising garden party at the site is scheduled for October 23rd. Want to learn more about the Friendship Farms and Gardens or partner charities? Here are some links:

Friendship Farms and Gardens: Seeding local food production and job readiness skills in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

Friendship Trays: Meals on wheels in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

Community Culinary School of Charlotte: Training in the culinary arts for chronically underemployed adults.

Slow Food Charlotte: Support food that is good, clean, and fair.

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