Dream + Teamwork = Agsten Manor Community Garden
714 Randolph Street, Charleston
What provides improved nutrition, exercise, and social interaction? For the residents of Agsten Manor, a senior citizens apartment building affiliated with presbytery, the answer is a community garden. It was the fulfillment of a dream when the Agsten Manor Garden Committee gathered on Saturday, May 22 to plant tomatoes, peppers, onions, cabbages, and parsley. Committee members had been meeting with Agsten Homes board members Andrew Ceperley and Kathryn Willoughby Weed for months: learning about other community gardens, getting organized, and developing guidelines for participants.
For Phase 1, ten raised beds were planned, surrounded by a mulch sidewalk and a fence. Ceperley and Weed wrote grant applications and oversaw construction of the garden itself. The community got behind the project by donating needed materials outright or selling them at a discount. Others volunteered their time during two work parties. Week by week, work progressed until the garden was ready for its very first planting party.
Just like the tomatoes and peppers planted in May, dreams for the garden continue to grow. Phase 2 in 2011 will double the number of plots and add a cement sidewalk. Phase 3 will add lighting and a pergola for vines. Success has given committee members a taste of what can be accomplished when a little teamwork is added to a dream.