Fundraising underway for community garden in Carrboro's Baldwin Park

Though Carrboro maintenance projects have delayed construction on a new community garden, fundraising for the project is already well on its way.

Carrboro Alderman Lydia Lavelle said that the board will not directly back the Baldwin Park garden financially and that funding will be left to the Carrboro Parks Project.

The garden, which was requested by Carrboro residents and the Lloyd Street Neighborhood Association, was presented to the Board of Aldermen and approved Nov. 16.

Chapel Hill Town Council member Donna Bell said the garden will allow residents to plant fruits and vegetables in a more interactive space.

“The Carrboro Parks Project has been great,” Lavelle said. “They’ve raised money for several parks in Carrboro.

“They’ve taken this under their arm too to be the next activity they raise money for.”

Twig, an eco-friendly Chapel Hill store that donates 10 percent of its proceeds to nonprofit organizations, also began fundraising Nov. 18 for the garden.

“Every year we invite nonprofits that are part of the community, and we basically donate a percentage of our proceeds based on the requests of customers,” said owner Shawn Slome.

Slome said although he is unsure of how much funding has been collected for the garden, the drive will continue through Dec. 7.

“We’re sort of early in the process, so I haven’t looked at all of the sales and who they are attributed to yet,” Slome said.

But Environmental Planner Randy Dodd said maintenance projects being completed in Baldwin Park have been delayed due to construction and the permitting process. This has also postponed work on the proposed garden.

“The contractor has been tied up with another job, but we hope to pursue work in a month or two,” Dodd said.

Carrboro Recreation and Parks Facilities Administrator Brendan Moore said he hopes the garden will be completed by the spring, though it depends on the construction time frame.

He said the garden will be situated in a neighborhood that had a desire to form a group that would build and maintain a garden.

“There are needs there where the park will be putting their equipment,” Moore said.

“The timeline is unsure until they get a better idea of construction time.”

Lavelle said town surveys designed to determine what activities residents wanted to promote found that gardening was one of the most popular pastimes.

“Gardening is a way of getting outdoors, getting exercise, getting local foods at their basic level and where you yourself can grow a mall garden,” Lavelle said.

“This is just a natural outgrowth for people that want smaller gardens at home or in smaller areas.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.