Community Garden

Stay tuned for 2012 Garden Workshops and Activities! If your organization or school would like to come out for a free garden workshop, please get in touch at 919-542-1746.

The Shakori Hills Community Garden helps to fulfill the part of our mission about sustainable foods. The garden occupies approximately 8800 square feet, with three crop rotation areas, an experimental rotation utilizing organic farming methods of cover crops and hog raising, to keep the harvest on a year-round cycle. The project is headed up by volunteer, Cheryl McNeil, an instructor with local Central Carolina Community College’s sustainable agriculture program. Students of CCCC and other Chatham and Orange County residents volunteer throughout the year in the SHCAC garden, giving a total of over 1000 volunteer hours per year.

The garden harvests are utilized in several different ways. Spring greens, green onions, cilantro and peppers are sold to the local food co-op, Chatham Markeplace, with the proceeds used to offset the cost of seeds, hog feed, equipment (though most work is done by hand), and tools. A large portion of food is used during fundraising events as a way of keeping costs down, and inspiring education about the benefits of local, organically grown produce (tomatoes used to make sauce for pizza, hogs to provide hospitality for artists, etc) and to provide lunch for volunteers during fundraising event setup. Volunteers may also keep a certain amount in exchange for their time (half bushel for a half day’s work). Nothing is wasted, as crop remnants (the inedible parts of the plant) are used as hog feed. Excess harvest is donated to local organizations such as Farmer Foodshare and St. Bartholomew's Weekly Lunch.

As the crop cycle is year-round, much of the food must be preserved. As part of our commitment to ongoing education, Shakori Hills staff and volunteers have been learning to preserve and can the excess yield. A future plan and intent of SHCAC is to build a health department certified kitchen and offer classes during the summer on canning and preserving; the realistic timeline for this to occur would be the summer of 2014.

In addition to hogs, Shakori Hills has had several flocks of birds, both chickens and guinea hens. The unusual-looking guinea hens, raised for tick and insect population control, spark much conversation amongst volunteers and event-goers, opening an informative discussion about the effects of pesticides, and reasons for using more natural methods. Chicken eggs provide breakfast for volunteers.

Get in touch with us if you're interested in working in the garden! A few hours volunteer time earns you a half bushel of produce! Call 919-542-1746 or email us at information@shakorihillscommunityartscenter.org.