Blog
How does your garden grow? West End ready for spring
It’s hard to know what’s happening with the weather these days. With the time change and high temperatures in recent weeks, is spring already here?
Ama Shambulia, director of WE (West End) Community Gardens, posted recently in the WE blog that early spring planting has already begun in the WE garden, with seedlings for baby greens already in the ground.
She offers more advice, including a list of crops such as beets, carrots and cauliflower, that gardeners can begin to plant. If you don’t want to plant your own, of course, you can join WE visitors and volunteers on Wednesday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon or arrange to visit or work on another day by calling 205-781-0517.
The gardens are located at the corner of McMillon Ave. and 12th Street Southwest. Curb markets start this week at Princeton Hospital on Wednesday mornings. WE produce also will be sold at Hemphill Elementary School (Wednesday afternoon starting in April), Pepper Place Market (Saturdays starting June 3), Railroad Park and City Hall (monthly, starting in May).
We are proud to support the expansion of WE Community Gardens, a program of Urban Ministry. Our 2011 grant of $50,000 total, spread over two years, is designed to help in the development of a curb market and community center for long-term sustainability of this important effort. Together we are helping people lead healthy lives by making it easier to gain access to healthy food.
Thanks to the Community Foundation, we are able to reach over 700 people each year in healthy living programs and gardening activities. We are also able to provide fresh, natural foods at an affordable price here in our community, and are employing 4 young men from West End in green jobs and leadership training. Your partnership and your leadership throughout Birmingham is so valuable!