How a raised garden brought an apartment community together…

Scottswood Apartments is a family property consisting of 106 apartments.  As Manager of this property, I noticed that several residents would be sitting on benches around the property during the day or evening with nothing to do.  I enjoy growing herbs and vegetables at home and thought maybe some of the residents would enjoy this too.

I sent out a letter to get some feedback on, possibly, building a raised garden for the residents, and found several residents were very interested. 
My Maintenance Assistant and I bought the supplies needed for 2 raised gardens.  One of the residents helped him build the boxes. Each garden is 4’ x 8’.  We had top soil brought in and even supplied a rain barrel for the water for the gardens. We fenced in the area to keep deer and other animals out.
  
The residents were so anxious to get started that they had their plants and tools all ready to go…just waiting for us to complete the boxes. The first plants went in at the end of May.  The residents divided the garden into equal parts and started with some small plants and even seeds. They planted tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, 3 different kinds of peppers, basil, rosemary, even flowers.  Some residents even decorated their area with flags, little birds and decorative fencing.

All the plantings are thriving beautifully.  One resident told me that he is out in the garden late at night watering and weeding the plants because he enjoys it so much.  I’ve had a few residents stop in at my office and thank me for doing this for them. They are all working together and sharing their harvest.  Some have mentioned that they want to set up a table to have other residents come and take what they would like to have.  One person told me that he and another resident are planning to can pickles!

The raised gardens have been such a huge success that we are planning on installing 2 more gardens next year!