Touch of Gray - July 2004

Gardening at Carolina Meadows

Gardening at Carolina Meadows
   Progress has its price. And at Carolina Meadows preparations for expansion meant creation of a new par-three hole for the golf course to replace one eliminated for construction. In turn, that meant thirteen raised garden beds created by residents in the early years of the retirement community had to be moved.

   As promised, the displaced gardeners were rewarded with far superior facilities, albeit farther from home for a few. Under the planning and supervision of Grounds Supervisor David Henry, supplementary beds created ten years ago in the maintenance area were upgraded and new ones were created, bringing total planting units to 42.

   Raised beds eighteen feet by five feet are in four rows with adequate space between for wheelbarrows and other service equipment. All have been well supplied with richly composted soil. Abundant water supply is at hand. And - O glorious benefit! - a seven-foot fence around the whole area keeps out the deer from nearby woods. A finer screen at the bottom blocks the rabbits.

   Fully half the residents of the 229 Carolina Meadows villas add flower beds to the shrubs and trees supplied and maintained by management. Some of the apartment-dwellers also plant flowers outside first-floor units. But among those with a green thumb there are many who yearn for the opportunity to raise their own vegetables, spring, summer or fall.

   No sooner had the first apartments and villas become occupied in the mid 1980's than some of these gardeners began to agitate for a chance to use the tools they had brought along. A hardy group, averaging ten years younger than present residents, they got one of the groundskeepers to plow up a strip of ground between a section of woods and one of the first of the golf fairways.

   The moving spirit who spearheaded this effort was Harriet Churchill. Now in her 90's and a resident of the assisted living Fairways, she recalls the creation of the thirteen beds in 1986:

   "We made our own raised beds and modified the soil by sharing a wonderful load of composted manure, plus another load of sand. Under the guidance of Paul Oakley, the men built a roofless shelter in the woods, and there we kept our tools, many of which we shared. When the second phase of construction began and huge numbers of trees were removed, we had an upsurge in problems with deer and snakes. Most of us erected fences."

   Harriet had been a volunteer at the N.C. Botanical Gardens, and she created a wild flower garden at the edge of the woods adjoining the raised beds. Some of her plantings remain for the enjoyment of apartment residents and walkers along the circular path in Phase One.

   Now Harriet is delighted that her favorite pastime has had such outstanding development at Carolina Meadows. Some of her fellow gardeners of former years keep her informed on each advancement at the new facility.

   Of the reconstituted garden area David Henry says: "We wanted to make the beds conveniently workable for our residents. Four of the plots are raised doubly high for the benefit of those who have difficulty getting down to their weeding and cultivating. And we have two beds for gardeners who need to get wheelchairs partially under the beds. We are available to help with problems, but the residents have their own mutual aid organization as well."

   The facilities for those in wheelchairs are on part of a large concrete slab, making movement easier than on the fine-gravel aisles. Henry has plans for future creative developments in gardening, adapted to the needs of a continuing care retirement community.

   Cornell McFadden, displaced from the original garden area, was given one of the doubly high beds. "It's a tremendous development," he says. "I could not have continued gardening without this special plot. If you have problems with balance or with tiring you have something to lean on even as you work." And back at the old area he sees the new golf hole as a scenic improvement.

   Cornell went on to say "We are supremely thankful for the members of the Carolina Meadows staff who conceived and carried out the improvements to the golf course as well as to the garden area."

   The Gardening Committee is headed by Nancy Post. Occasional meetings of the members have resulted in ground rules concerning the use of tools, pesticides and water, and the disposal of weeds and trash.

   "The gardeners are all generous with their expertise and know-how," says Nancy, "whether their previous experience has been here in North Carolina or in some other part of the country. On the other hand, they are wise enough not to interfere with someone else's methods. One notes, for example, several different ways to grow beans. Having our gardens grouped together makes it easy to help each other out with watering when one or another of us is away. All in all, it's a very nice community within a community."

   The group commissioned Bob Wilson and Bert Morhart to find a suitable shed to be purchased for the storage of tools. Construction expert and resident, John Rocco, assisted in the installation. Members shared the cost and now enjoy the convenience.

   Now that spring plantings have brought the fruits of summer, an immense harvest of tomatoes seems assured. A variety of supporting frames hold thousands of orange-red globes from cherry to big-boy size. Most will be shared with neighbors and friends.

   String beans, squash, cucumbers, gourds, peppers, raspberries, blueberries, even rhubarb and asparagus are among the produce of the forty-plus mini-plots.

   Flowers include gladioli, day lilies, geraniums, salvia, daisies, verbena, Asian lilies, marigolds and coreopsis.

   C. Arden Miller, former Assistant Chancellor for Health Affairs at UNC, was assigned two garden plots within his first year at Carolina Meadows. "We had to downsize from a much larger garden, but were delighted to get one bed for vegetables and another for cut flowers," he said. "Lettuce and spinach in the cool weather, and tomatoes, peppers plus herbs in the summer come to our table. My wife, Helen, arranges the zinnias, cosmos, larkspur, bachelors buttons and other flowers that brighten our home."

   None of her partners in developing the first garden area are active in the new development. But Harriet Churchill delights in reports she gets from younger acquaintances who are following in her steps.

   "You must miss watching the seeds grow," I commented.

   "Well, not quite," she replied. "I had them bring a very big plastic bucket to the patio on the west side of our Fairways building, fill it with a nice rich loam, and that's my garden now. I'm ready for lunch; and here are my string beans. I had another fistful for a friend down the hall."

   On the way out I found the bucket, 30 inches across, laden with tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and several varieties of wild flowers!

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