In Winston-Salem, the Historic Bethabara Park Board of Trustees has decided to end its Community Garden Program.
A leaking irrigation system in need of repair, wildlife and local visitors pilfering plots and a drop in upkeep standards are among the reasons listed in the Board’s email announcement.
For years, volunteer gardening enthusiasts have grown vegetables, herbs and flowers in the same space tilled by Moravian settlers nearly 300 years ago. Eighty-two-year-old Becky Brown says it’s a real loss.
She says she enjoys the walks to and from the garden, the Zen of pulling weeds, and the camaraderie.
"It's a community — the gardeners see each other, talk to each other — and it's a wonderful place because we don't see each other except in the garden, we tell each other things that we wouldn't tell other people," says Brown. "Two of the women in the last couple of years have lost husbands. Things like that that just bond us."
The Board is currently planning a new, more sustainable model run by park officials. The deadline for removing dead produce, plants, and weeds is this Saturday, Jan. 10. Gardeners who planted a winter garden can continue until those crops are harvested, with a cutoff date of Mar. 31, 2026.
