Digging in the Dirt

Central Florida community gardens offer good fun, good friendships and good food.

By Tarre Beach

Getting outdoors is more than just a wonderful way to enjoy the Sunshine State. For many people, it’s a place to commune with nature, exercise and maybe even grow spiritually. At community gardens, it’s also a place to grow food.

In Orange County alone, there are 17 community gardens available where residents can come together to dig in the dirt and share their love of the great outdoors.

Shelbë Spurlock is a member of the Druid Lake Community Garden (DLCG), which has approximately 40 plots, including a Pink Ribbon Garden, dedicated to breast cancer patients, survivors, those who have died from the disease, and their families and friends.

How Does the Garden Grow?

Many community gardeners are people who live in urban areas or don’t have the room to have their own gardens. According to Spurlock, people of all ages and walks of life come to the DLCG garden. Families, young adults, older generations and people from various careers and backgrounds garden. Even though most members live close by, Spurlock says some gardeners drive out 40 minutes to over an hour to come to tend their plots.

Because each plot is tended by different people, families or groups, what’s being grown varies. There is a lot of spinach, broccoli, corn, bok choy and herbs growing in many Central Florida community gardens.

At DLCG, Spurlock says they are fortunate also to have some fruitproducing trees, including an olive tree, a mulberry tree, a fig tree, banana trees, avocado trees and citrus trees.

Climate Challenges

Although gardening in Central Florida can be done year-round, this summer was one of the hottest on record.

“Very few gardeners, myself included, were out and about during the heat,” Spurlock says.

This can create a problem because summer is a good time to solarize plots. Solarizing involves covering garden beds with plastic to heat the soil to kill bacteria and pests. Because fewer people were working in the garden in summer, it made it difficult to keep up with overall garden maintenance. By the end of summer, many plots at DLCG were full of weeds and needed some major work.

Spurlock says if things continue to stay this hot, it will become more difficult and dangerous to work during the summer months and possibly delay the growing season further into the fall, making for a less productive season when winter frosts creep into Central Florida.

However, more gardeners are returning to their plots now that temperatures are more comfortable.

“It’s been so nice getting back out now that the summer heat has started to give away to cooler fall weather,” Spurlock says.

Gardening for Good

Of course, the benefits of community gardens are numerous. They offer exercise, stress relief, community connection, education and access to healthy produce. It also gives people a sense of accomplishment.

“As someone whose work and hobbies mainly keep me indoors, I love getting the opportunity to walk to the garden and see some familiar faces while cultivating something I’ve grown with my own two hands,” Spurlock says.

To learn more about Orange County community gardens, scan the QR code.