Community-University Partnership plants Landscapes You Can Eat in Chapel Hill

Who said money doesn't grow on trees?  An inspired group of UNC undergraduates, along with Active Living by Design and the Chapel Hill Department of Parks and Recreation, have created the HOPE Gardens Project, an organic urban farm 3 miles outside downtown Chapel Hill where they are growing both food and jobs organically.  This Saturday, November 7th, in collaboration with Bountiful Backyards, Useful Plants Nursery, Niche Gardens, UNC Botanical Gardens, Rock Shop and others, the students are planting a diverse orchard with blueberries, hazelnuts, persimmons, blackberries, and more, on the 14 acre site leased to them by the Town of Chapel Hill.

"We are a small local green business that has big aspirations for creating abundance, both literally and spiritually, throughout the Triangle,' said Chris Rumbley, the Orchard Project coordinator for Bountiful Backyards of Durham.  'Once the momentum is there, planting regenerative and food producing landscapes is relatively easy.  And a single one of these 30 blueberry plants can produce ten to fifteen pounds of fresh fruit per year at maturity, which can bring $5 a quart at market, a great return on a small investment."

Currently, there is nearly 5000 square feet of rich black prepared soil at the HOPE Gardens enclosed with a deer fence.  This season, they are growing collard, kale, salad, and turnip greens, the rest of this area will be planted in the spring.  This community garden will generate income and social opportunities for the homeless as well as provide individual leased plots for folks in Chapel Hill.

"HOPE Gardens has come a long way since we decided to go for it last year, especially as it's made the issues of homelessness much more visible' said David Baron, UNC student and co-founder of the project.  'This farm will be a low-input, high-yield site where folks work together to set roots in the soil and in the community."

Last summer David apprenticed in Chicago with urban agriculture guru Will Allen's organization Growing Power.  Will Allen, recent winner of a MacArthur Genius Award, will be this year's Sustainable Agriculture Lecturer hosted by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) next Monday, November 9th, in Raleigh.