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Local Boy Scouts and leaders from Troop 575, members and families from NC United Girls soccer team, and Deep Roots gardeners came together to replace 12 raised garden beds at the Deep Roots Mocksville Community Garden in downtown Mocksville.
A crew of almost 30 volunteers arrived on a beautiful spring morning – all to help support the delivery of a successful Eagle Project for a local Scout.
Colin Gray, an eighth grader at North Davie Middle School and Life Scout of BSA Troop 575 in Mocksville, planned the effort for his Eagle project in partnership with Teresa Johnson and Kelly Alexander of Deep Roots.
They determined Colin’s project would consist of replacing 12 garden beds and prepping the remainder of the 35 garden beds for the upcoming growing season.
The work included removing the old beds, replacing them with new, sealed wood wrapped with weed cloth, filling most of the beds with a mixture of soil and compost as well as weeding in and around the gardens.
Colin recruited other Scouts, players from his sister Hazel’s soccer team, and gardeners to help with the work. He also received some donations from teachers at school and his family to help with the purchase of organic sealer, weed cloth and lunch for the volunteers while Deep Roots used proceeds from their 2024 annual plant sale to fund the wood and corner brackets for the project.
Deep Roots Community Garden provides a place for people who don’t have a good spot for their own garden at home or for those who want to help the community by donating fresh, locally grown food. Gardeners help maintain the gardening area during the growing season and donate a portion of their produce to local food pantries and to seniors.
Teresa likes to say, many elderly people in the community have said that they would rather have a tomato sandwich instead of a meal for lunch and Deep Roots being able to provide that brings a smile to everyone’s face.
Last year, gardeners volunteered more than 700 hours working in and around the garden, which yielded more than 1,300 pounds of produce of which they donated almost 800 pounds.
With the project complete, Troop 575 has joined the gardeners by purchasing a garden bed for the summer to work on the Gardening Merit Badge. Teresa and other gardeners from Deep Roots will help instruct the course for the Scouts.
The Deep Roots gardeners are preparing for the upcoming annual plant sale on Saturday, April 26 at 196 Wandering Lane from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Proceeds support the garden’s efforts to keep garden producing fresh food for the community and to help replace the remaining 11 beds in the coming growing season.
For more information regarding the community garden and upcoming plant sale, contact Teresa at tjj12561@roadrunner.com.
For more information regarding BSA Boys Troop 575 in Mocksville, contact Eric Gray at troop575mocksville@gmail.com.