Friendship Community Garden in Sumter gets ready for new growing season

Whether as lion or lamb, March 1 rolled into Sumter's Friendship Community Garden at the corner of Dingle and Wright streets with sunny skies and a light breeze, perfect for weeding and refilling the 38 community plots, along with two raised plots for use by handicapped gardeners, with a half compost-half topsoil mix. A project of the Sumter Master Gardener Association since 2004, gardeners are allowed free use of the plots as long as they maintain them. A yearly evaluation is held to determine continued use of the plots that include a free watering source for each plot, provided by the City of Sumter, and gardening advice if requested from the Master Gardeners.

Saturday's work day saw a diverse group of garden-loving Sumterites. Maurice Tisdale, a City Detention officer, was prepping his plot to grow herbs, squash and beets, something he likes pickled. Betty Brown, a native of Horatio who took the long road to New York then back home to Sumter and is now a crossing guard, has had a plot at the garden since 2004, growing mustard greens, broccoli and garden peas for the early spring crop, making sure no one put any new soil on her healthy-looking mustard plants.

The Heter family, Stephen and Savannah and their children ranging from 6 months to 7 years, had all hands but the youngest involved in weeding and mixing in the new soil and leaves in their plot. Seven-year-old daughter Johnnie said they'd plant radishes, peas and cherry tomatoes, but she'd really like to plant jasmine because "it smells so good." Members of the Bridge Builders Faith-Based Homeschool Co-op, they intend to donate their produce in the community. Several teen members of the Bridge Builders were learning gardening technique from Master Gardeners on site. They plan to assist senior gardeners in weeding their plots when needed. Kayla McLeod, director of the Bridge Builders for five years, has her first plot this year and looks forward to a bountiful crop of possibly cherry tomatoes. Gardeners can choose what they want to grow, and Clemson Extension had a selection of seeds appropriate for planting this time of year available to choose from.

Master Gardener Roz Taylor just donated a self-propelled mower to replace the push mower that has been in use since the garden's inception, greatly easing the labor needed to keep the area around the plots looking tidy.

Master Gardener Sybil Lee, coordinator of the gardens, says they would like to strive for organic gardening but aren't pushy about it. Invasive plants are not allowed. Lee is heading for a 10-day trip to Eswatini, formerly Swaziland in southern Africa, to teach gardening for Farms International, so there is definitely good advice available. Workdays are usually held on the first and third Saturdays of the month, though each gardener has his own key and can act whenever the weeding, digging, planting and harvesting urge hits. The land provided by the city and the efforts of the Master Gardeners has produced a beneficial project for the community.