Community garden yields food for needy

Published: Monday, August 11, 2014 at 11:58 a.m. Last Modified: Monday, August 11, 2014 at 11:58 a.m.

It took someone with a little TLC who knew their ABCs about XYandZ vegetables to create a productive garden in a 20x30 plot.

Elizabeth Simmons appeared in timely fashion to come up with the right formula.

She works as a peer counselor for breast-feeding moms at the Davidson County Health Department and actually stumbled across the opportunity when she made a trip to the county recreation department to set up a support group for her clients.

"I looked out the window and thought, what a shame to let that spot go to waste."

She was eyeing a small, fallow section of property behind the Davidson County Parks and Recreation Department's gym. "It had leaves and grass grown over it. It just looked abandoned," she recalled.

Simmons, who grew up gardening, was unaware that a couple of years age the county health department, the Lexington, Thomasville and county recreation departments, and Davidson County Cooperative Extension received a grant to fund community gardens.

County employees, through their Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance, could earn wellness points for seeding and tending a 4x6 section of the garden.

"Twenty minutes of gardening can burn up to 200 calories," Simmons offered.

Last year there was no garden.

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Community garden yields food for needy