welcome community history arts recreation events chamber
“...and a piece of fertile ground”
Garden at Paradise Community Guilds By David Leon Zink
Inch by inch, row by row gonna make this garden grow all it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground (The Garden Song, by David Mallet)
N
o pandemic can stop a passionate gardener from seeking the community of those who grow food. The work is pretty much outdoors in the sun, wind and (please!) rain, safe social distancing is built-in and you can just feel your immune system perking up as your hands work the soil. It’s all about the wondrous power of growing things, the deepest source of pleasure known on this blue-green Earth. Though Paradise Community Guilds (PCG) at 5704 Chapel Drive (just off Pearson) doesn’t own the patent on this exquisite yet ordinary affair, the group continues to lure its ardent advocates to invest their spare hours of labor in the delights of the gardens. The opportunity to gather and grow is perennial and its rewards are beyond market valuation, a public good that immeasurably enriches every moment spent in the doing. The setting for this simple means of entertainment and enlightenment is a relatively large campus along a blackberry vine-thatched creek, at the center of which lies a simple fenced space populated with hooped
garden boxes and water spigots, hoses and compost bins, a few raised self-watering beds, and a fruitful orchard. It is the very soul of tranquility for those who love to toil in the soil. Limited in space for now, PCG members are content to invite anyone of good spirit and interest to join them in the gardens so long as there is room. Over the long term the group envisions growing out the potential of the land to support more garden boxes for community gardeners to enjoy. The ethos is organic, biodiverse, using permaculture ideas and other forward-gardening techniques that are soil-, plant-, bug- and peoplefriendly. Collaborations this year with Butte County Local Food Network and Camp Fire Restoration Project will continue at the campus. These efforts have so far resulted in the distribution of hundreds of ≥garden boxes and native plants to help residents re-establish verdant life on their own local patch of ground. And inch by inch, row by row someone bless these seeds I sow someone warm them from below ‘til the rain comes tumblin’ down You are welcome to participate in the effort of growing community through garden growing. For more information visit www. paradiseguilds.org. Paradise Community Guilds 5704 Chapel Drive, just off Pearson
Carpet • Vinyl • Hardwood Laminate • Window Coverings
We carry Mohawk, Armstrong, Shaw, & much more. Lic. 968664
S & S FLOOR COVERING We have the same high quality installers!
NOW OPEN
204 Pearson Rd. • Paradise
Locally Owned & Operated by Joyclyn (Jo) Stultz
at Black Olive behind Downtown Market and across from Joy Lyn’s)
(530)
413-9752
36............................................................................................................... PARADISE RISING Resource Guide for the Ridge
2022/23
