Community Garden Almost Ready for Planting
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Published on Wednesday, 22 July 2009 16:36
The Bean of Ave Maria coffee house has long been a community gathering place for the town. Now it's also the storage facility for tools being used to build and maintain the Ave Maria community garden.
But Bean owners Monica and Daniel Dix don't mind, because the tools are helping to bring to life the town's community garden that the two have been instrumental in creating and developing. Now, thanks to a brigade of dozens of residents, families and students, the garden has taken shape and is almost ready for planting.
"It's such a thrill to see it actually see it taking shape," said Mrs. Dix after two weekend work parties finished the construction of 22 neat, raised beds on land along Ave Maria Blvd by the Canizaro Library.
The last few Saturdays, the garden site was bustling at 7 a.m. Residents were helped by high school students staying at Ave Maria as part of a college prep program organized by Immokalee High School as well as AMU students.
The community garden effort has received "invaluable guidance and assistance," Mrs. Dix said, from Rob McCartney, a Michigan horticulturalist who has designed may public gardens.
"Within hours after arriving in Ave Maria last week, he was digging into the soil in our garden beds with bare hands, showing us how to spot problems, and explaining what to do about them, says Mrs. Dix."
Mr. McCartney also spoke to the group of community gardeners, providing tips, advice and encouragement. The talk motivated resident Todd Michaels to donate enough money to purchase lumber to finish building the beds, along with some tools for communal use.
The next step for the gardeners is to plant cover crops like perennial peanut and crimson clover which, 
Mrs. Dix explained, need only rainfall and will help retain moisture and prevent erosion without taxing the soil. "They're also beautiful," she said, When it's time to plant our vegetables and fruits, we will turn the cover crops under, and they will enrich the soil.
The Ave Maria community garden group is open to all. If interested, see either Monica or Daniel Dix at The Bean.
See previous Ave Herald story here.
