The PVCC Community Gardens Program Blossoms in Spring
Flowers in bloom at the PVCC Community Gardens (photo by Caroline Longest)
Flowers are not the only thing springing up as the weather turns warmer! Some seasonal Madison House programs, like Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) Community Gardens program are picking up again after UVA’s spring break ended in mid-March. This program operates from August to mid-November and is in its sixteenth year of helping local food banks like The Haven, Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry, the PVCC Food Pantry, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, the Thomas Jefferson Area Food Bank, and The Salvation Army.
The PVCC Community Garden began in 2001, led by PVCC student Nik Ooi. The program first partnered with Madison House in 2008. David Lerman, current advisor for the Horticulture and Environmental Club at PVCC and the PVCC Community Garden, explains, “A former PVCC student, Sarah Elizabeth, was president of the Horticulture and Environmental Club about 16 years ago. She transferred to UVA in around 2009 or 2010 and helped the PVCC Community Garden become a Madison House supported project. She then led the first group of volunteers back to PVCC. She later earned her B.A. and, I think, her Masters, and for a while was working for UVA.” About 25 individuals and families have plots in the Garden and have the freedom to decide what they will grow and which food pantry their produce will be donated to. They are able to keep some of what they plant, but each plot comes with a requirement of a set quota of how much needs to be donated.
Having earned a doctorate in community college leadership from ODU and a Master’s in Counseling from VCU, David has worked in his current role for 17 years and has been with PVCC for 23 years. His job, he says, “is largely to listen to students and learn where they’re struggling, then try to do something about it along with my talented staff. Advising and working in the community garden is simply a labor of love.”
Volunteers have enjoyed getting to know and work with David. First year Volunteer Alexa Graham reflects on her favorite memory as a volunteer, when she and other volunteers surprised him with some of his signs that PVCC had moved and put on a train cargo box. David was just returning from the hospital after being in a car accident when Alexa and the rest of the volunteers walked to the train car, climbed up on it, and got the signs down. “We walked them back to the garden and surprised David when he got back.”
The former PVCC library doors will be utilized as plant trellises. (photo courtesy of David Lerman)
David was touched by this gesture. “I was in a head-on auto collision last October and am still recovering. A few of the UVA volunteering students knew of my long standing desire to bring the old PVCC library doors to the garden from where they’ve been resting atop a trailer for the last decade plus,” he says. “They are large and incredibly heavy, but once scraped, painted and placed erect, they will be an incredible visual and we will grow plants up them. I don’t quite know how it happened, and perhaps it’s best that I don’t know the details, but one day last fall while still confined to my house, I received a picture that the doors had somehow been brought to the garden. It was so very thoughtful and has helped me through a tough time.”
Co-Program Director Ellie Cook comments, “David is adamant about educating the volunteers as we work, and he encourages us to take home food and try new recipes with the fruits and vegetables.” Ellie remarks that she felt such pride and accomplishment by not only seeing and tasting the product of her hard work, but being able to share that moment with other members of the community.
Much of the produce from the gardens is donated to local food banks, and volunteers are encouraged to try new recipes with the yield from their plots. (photo by Caroline Longest)
“One of my favorite memories from PVCC was the first harvest that I got to witness in the Fall of 2022,” shares Ellie. “My friend Julie and I had planted radishes in the Madison House plot of the garden. Only 3-4 weeks later, the radishes were ready to be harvested. We got to witness David pull the fresh radishes straight out of the ground and take a bite, dirt and all! Julie and I then got to try our radishes and share them with the other volunteers.”
Similarly, David reflects fondly on his time working with the Madison House volunteers. When asked about his favorite memory gardening alongside the UVA students, he replied, “I have so many memories of working with UVA students over the last 17 years that it’s hard to select just one. I would have to say that the relationships that I’ve had with the volunteers and the project directors has been deeply rewarding. Some come just once to the garden, but actually quite a few have volunteered for three or four of their UVA years and count their time in the PVCC community garden as among their favorite memories in college.” David adds, “Quite a few have stayed in touch after graduation, visited my wife and I at home, sent pictures of their gardens in other states, called back to get recipes, or stayed active on social media accounts. None have chosen to get engaged or married in the garden that I know of…yet.”
Co-Program Directors John Kuang and Ellie Cook at work in the garden. (photo by Caroline Longest)
Ellie describes a typical volunteer session, saying, “In a typical session, we usually start by getting together and laying out our goals for the shift. Then we break up into groups and take care of general maintenance, watering, planting, harvesting, cutting grass, or any special projects that we may have for that week.” She emphasizes how fun and rewarding the volunteer sessions are for the students.
“Our community partner, David Lerman, also encourages taste testing of any fruits and veggies that volunteers find interesting or have never tried before. Last semester, a large quantity of tulip bulbs was donated to the garden and I really enjoyed getting to plant those around the perimeter of the garden. Hopefully, when we come back from break, we can see how they turned out!” Ellie says with excitement.
Similarly, Co-Program Director John Kuang values the sense of community that being a PVCC volunteer brings. Per PVCC tradition, the final shift is spent painting rocks with the names of the produce grown. “To be honest, I have zero painting skills, but I was truly blown away by the quality and creativity of the paintings from the volunteers,” he comments. “One of the volunteers also brought in some homemade Chinese food to share. It was such a nice gesture, and we all enjoyed some delicious Chinese food that day!”
Student volunteers work in groups to tend to the garden all season long. (photo by Caroline Longest)
Volunteering with PVCC gives unforgettable experiences and lessons to students, but, just as importantly, it aids local Charlottesville residents as the food is donated to local food pantries. Food insecurity impacts 17% of local families, reports CultivateCharlottesville.org. This number is nearly 5% greater than the national average, which lies at 15.8% of families. “We try to teach people about something that not many people talk about, namely, that many families have food insufficiency and depend on a secondary system of food supply. In a country with as many resources as we have, that’s unfortunate.” David strives to ensure that locals do not need to rely on cheap, mass produced, or extremely processed unhealthy foods and can instead live long, healthy lives. “We can make inroads in this, we can solve it. Teaching people not only what to eat and not eat, but also how to grow their own food is an important part of how we contribute to social justice in our community,” he voices.
Students interested in volunteering for the PVCC community garden should reach out to Ellie Cook or John Kuang. “Shifts pick up after spring break!” exclaims Ellie Cook. Shifts run 3:00-5:00 on Fridays and 2:00-4:00 on Sundays, and they begin with the students first laying out their goals for the shift, then splitting into groups to take care of their respective tasks- watering, planting, harvesting, cutting grass, and more. As it operates without much of a budget and relies on volunteers for maintenance, The PVCC Garden also accepts donations at https://www.pvcc.edu/donors-friends/make-a-donation, but be sure to designate the Community Garden.
By Cecilia Murphy