While Central Virginia is in the deep freeze at the moment, some of us are dreaming of Springtime, or more specifically, our Spring gardens and the fresh veggies they yield! With that in mind, the Nest team is thrilled to introduce Tom’s Garden, an initiative to support and fund Community Gardening in the Charlottesville-Albemarle community.
The agents at Nest, in addition to sharing a profession, share a commitment to our community, an interest in the local food movement and ecology, and a firm conviction that community gardens enhance quality of life.
We believe that a Community Garden:
▪ is a beautiful and joyful place
▪ enables people to grow fresh, affordable food
▪ gives families a place to share unplugged leisure time.
▪ can help transform a row of houses into a neighborhood.
▪ reintroduces the outdoors into the lives of people missing that daily pleasure.
▪ adds green space to any residential setting.
▪ creates opportunities for participation for the elderly, disengaged and newcomers.
▪ elevates underutilized or neglected land to a higher purpose.
▪ strengthens the connections amongst neighbors and help neighbors bridge differences.
▪ can serve as living classrooms to educate children, about gardening, local food supply and the environment.
▪ creates opportunities for interaction amongst the generations.
▪ can help people engage as active participants in community problem solving.
▪ makes people feel more vested in their home, their street, their neighborhood.
▪ can help make the conversation about local food issues accessible to everyone in the community.
Tom’s Garden is a grant program offering funds to groups of private individuals, homeowner’s associations, private, public and non-profit organizations, schools….just about anybody who has or hopes to start a community garden in Charlottesville, Albemarle or the neighboring region.
You can find the application for a grant on our website, along with a lot of great information about obtaining the help of Piedmont Master Gardeners in getting your garden underway, and links to website about gardening, local foods, and other sources of funding for your project.
Please feel free to contact us if you have questions about this project or feedback on our Tom’s Garden website
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[...] We at Nest talk about sustainability and local food; now we are enabling others actually do something about this. From the Nest Report: [...]
[...] issue also features a charity that is close to our hearts here at Nest, Tom’s Garden. We started the initiative to support and fund community gardening. Want to get involved? You can [...]