On Saturday, Octover 23 over 30 volunteers assisted the Burch Street Neighborhood Association in revitalizing a community garden on Wilkerson Avenue in West Durham. The event was organized by Durham Community Land Trustees in partnership with Cornucopia Agricultural Land Trust as part of the national "Make a Difference Day," an annual challenge described as a day of doing good.
The group included volunteers from Duke, NC School of Science and Math, Compuware and neighborhood residents. The garden is a neighborhood gathering spot with picnic benches, shade trees, and a fenced area with individual raised beds. The volunteers successfully weeded overgrown beds, laid down fresh soil and compost, mulched between the rows with wood chips, cut down obscuring tree limbs and painted a fence in an array of festive primary colors. Garlic was planted in one community bed and a fig tree, wildflowers, echinacea, columbine and native grasses were planted outside of the fenced garden. The project was an excellent example of community participation with Rock Shop donating compost and wood chips for the day and tools and supplies donated from various sources. The work event culminated with a delicious lunch donated by Jason's Deli.
