The Noble area boasts some fabulous community gardens, each with its own character.
Filling several formerly empty lots on Woodview, these faithful growers donate hundreds of pounds of produce to the Heights Emergency Food Bank each week during the harvest season. They welcome volunteer gardeners each Tuesday evening to help tend and harvest the large variety of vegetables. Woodview Hope Community Garden has a Facebook presence. These folk are doing great work, and have been doing it for years!!
Tucked in a small space at Noble Road Presbyterian Church are several kitchen gardens cultivated by the Nepalese refugees that call the Noble neighborhood their home. There's lots of variety and some very clever gardening techniques. We Americans can certainly learn new ways from our newest neighbors!
Just around the corner is a children's garden hosted by the enthusiasts at Noble Library. Designed to introduce kids to flower and vegetable growing, it is a fitting companion to the library's Early Literacy PLAYroom program.
Oxford Garden is one of the longest-lived community gardens in the area. These folk have got the "community" part of community garden goin' on!! They have picnic tables, chairs, shared tools and compost resources, and folks that will help water your garden for you when you can't be there. It's quite a treat to view all the ways these gardeners are working together to grow friendships as well as food.
Montford Garden is the area's newest community garden. In just two growing seasons, the gardeners have taken a vacant corner lot and turned it into a lovely neighborhood asset. These well organized folk also have a terrific Facebook page.
For each of these gardens, it's all about thwarting deer, ground hog and other domestic and wildlife free-loaders. Check out each garden for some very clever critter control techniques! Lastly, here's a shout-out to the Heights Community Garden Network which supports all these efforts. We've got good eatin' in the neighborhood!