North Carolina’s Cary PSR “Growing” Gardening Program

Contributed by Ray Cowan, FHR NC

FHR NC reaps the benefits of having an on-site garden

The gardening program continues to excel at Fellowship Health Resources North Carolina’s Cary PSR program. Through the support of several area businesses, the amazing assistance of an intern from North Carolina State University’s master gardener cooperative extension program, a government grant for “going green,” and the efforts of enthusiastic clients, Cary’s PSR program is reaping many benefits of what has been sown.

This year’s growing season began in February as many clients worked together, planting hundreds of various seeds in seed starter kits indoors. In April, several clients thoroughly enjoyed setting up a plant stand, selling different vegetable and flower seedlings. This provided a great sales opportunity, serving customers, and building a cash reserve for continued expansion of the gardening program.

Gardening provides a wide array of opportunities to interact with others in the community. Fairview Greenhouses and Garden Center provided an educational vegetable container garden demonstration, giving each participant the opportunity to select a small vegetable plant to plant in their section of the clubhouse’s community garden. Clients also interacted with Lowes’ employees in selecting donated items to the gardening program this year, filling shopping carts with supplies from the lawn and garden department. These acts of kindness extended to a couple of local businesses who graciously provided significant monetary donations to make a successful growing season possible. Hand delivered loaves of homemade zucchini bread from homegrown zucchini made excellent expressions of the PSR gardener’s gratitude.

Through the donation of scrap lumber from another local business, clients have had the opportunity to learn basic carpentry skills, working together in building trellises for peas, beans, and cucumbers to climb upon. The program continues to have an ample supply of wood for building whatever would be suitable for enhancing the gardening experience. Compliments of the Town of Cary, two large truckloads of free wood chips were delivered the end of August, the latest blessing for the growing gardening program.

Working in conjunction with the Wake County Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, clients harvest vegetables at a large community garden for individuals with basic needs of food and shelter. In addition, visits to other community gardens have provided inspiration and motivation for an upcoming challenge, the development of raised-bed container gardens for implementing square-foot gardening next year.

Horticulture also includes learning about developing and maintaining a healthy planting medium, providing adequate water and sunlight as well. An acquisition this year has been a vermicomposting (worm gardening) system, provided through a government grant. PSR gardeners are learning how to “love worms,” creating them a healthy environment, and properly feeding them to produce one of the richest composts available with ideal nutrients for plant growth.

This year, the program started a community garden, giving each gardener a shared plot to be responsible for planting and maintaining. Each person prepared the soil for planting, deciding on what to plant where and when. Over time, the learning has involved caring for that garden plot, staking tomatoes, setting up trellises, weeding, dealing with pests, and harvesting. Clients have been learning about stewardship, teamwork, personal responsibility, time management, task completion, follow-through, and experiencing the rewards of accomplishment.

There is a tremendous amount of pride taken in a phenomenal strawberry patch, started with about two dozen plants early this spring. The patch has grown in size to an area of 100 sq. ft., with hundreds of plants. Looking ahead to next year, gardeners are excited about increasing sales through the prolific reproduction of strawberry plants.

As a new addition this growing season, a “cut flower” garden of various flowers, including roses, marigolds, and zinnias has brightened up not only the outside space at the program, but also the dining room and receptionist desk indoors. There are plans to diversify investments in the flower garden for next year as well. A perennial garden planted last fall, which includes asters, azaleas, ivy, and lilies, established itself well through its first growing season. Next summer, the clients will also start enjoying the “fruits” of their labors from blueberries, raspberries, and a fig tree, all which were planted earlier this year.

From start to finish, the Cary PSR gardening program is client-centered. Horticultural ideas are sown in their minds, sprout in creative action plans, and come to fruition, culminating in creative ways to prepare delicious dishes, and enhance outdoor and indoor clubhouse environment.