Haw Creek Commons Community Garden
This week's guest author, Kate Rudd, is the Cultivator at Haw Creek Commons in Asheville, NC. 

Haw Creek Commons has a new addition: a community garden! The 3,000 square foot Haw Creek Garden is situated in front of the parsonage, or Haw Creek House, and is open to neighbors who want to learn and grow food. We've begun gardening on Thursday evenings and any neighbors who come can ask gardening questions and share in the harvest. All other vegetables produced go to Manna Food Bank, Summer Feeding Programs at a nearby apartment complex, and cooked fresh or canned to make meals for our guests at Haw Creek House. 

In Fall 2016, Haw Creek Garden will be the foundational learning ground for a new after school program with children from Haw Creek Elementary. The program is called "Home Grown Kids," and we will teach children about gardening from seed to table. Children and parents will learn how to start seeds, prepare soil, tend harvest, manage insects and preserve pollinator species, harvest and prepare healthy food, and explore the natural world in community. We are excited to see what life evolves out of this coming season's yield.