On a sunny Sunday in Norfolk, volunteers gathered on Colley Avenue to plant fall vegetables and start a new chapter for local gardening. The “Back to Our Roots” event, hosted by 757 Creative Reuse Center with the Elizabeth River Project and Community Farmers, welcomed the public for hands-on learning and shared gardening.
This project is a fresh start for 757 Creative Reuse Center, which recently moved from MacArthur Center to Colley Avenue.
During the move, the center’s new neighbors at the Elizabeth River Project asked Beth Dryer, who leads the center, if she would be on board to take care of the native plant beds in front of the new store.
She not only agreed, but immediately started making plans to expand the garden. Dryer, who loves gardening, also partnered with Community Farmers, a new group that sets up edible gardens for the community.
Aeron Novotny, who leads Community Farmers, said the partnership started after Dryer saw news of their first garden project at Knox Presbyterian Church and wanted something similar at the new location.
This garden is different from most because people work together instead of managing their own plots. The focus is on teamwork and learning new skills.
“This is a really good opportunity for people who have no experience with gardening to come and be able to learn from people who have been gardening for years already,” Dryer said. “Just that one-to-one knowledge transfer is really what we’re looking for here.”
Both organizers believe growing food together helps address food security issues today.
“In a time when food insecurity is becoming more and more prevalent, and produce is being recalled at an alarming rate, one of the best things we can do is come together as a community and grow our own food,” Dryer said.
Data from the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore shows that Norfolk faces a 16% food insecurity rate, affecting roughly 36,000 residents, including 1 in 4 children.
Novotny added that growing food locally lets people control the quality and know exactly where their food comes from.
The garden starts with 12 regular raised beds and two standing height beds. Local partners provided money and materials: The Elizabeth River Project is giving fruit trees, Community Farmers got soil, mulch and seeds, and Eggleston’s Garden Center in Riverview donated plants.
Organizers plan to add six more beds next spring and will keep growing as space allows. The space will open fully to the public with signs to teach about the plants and when to harvest later this fall, Dryer said, without an exact date in mind. The next big planting, with fruit trees and blueberry bushes, will be on October 17.
As the garden grows, Dryer said there’s a bigger purpose behind the project.
“If we’re not taking care of our Earth, then nothing else is going to work right for us, both as individuals and as a species of humans,” she said. “When you’re able to grow food with other people and then enjoy eating that food together, it really does center you in the community.”
