Scott Garden Potluck Lunch Featured Local Homesteader Joey Zeigler

July 18, 2013 by Leave a comment

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Nature abhors a vacuum so put something in the ground or it will. The way Joey sees it, you just test your soil, re-mineralize it, and grow something! Joey Zeigler, a local homesteader shared his views on why he grows food and not just flowers, how good soil is the secret to success, and many other tips. The 2nd knuckle test determines if plants need water, cover crops or green manures hold your plot in the off season, portable chicken coops accomplish not only egg laying, but they spread your compost, add nitrogen to your soil, and eat insects.

At http://zeiglerhomesteadservices.com/about-joey/, Joey offers many services to get you on the path to growing your own food, noting of course that it takes half an acre to feed one person for a year. Most of us have less space than that but he can help you either way. He’s innovative in areas like rain barrels and develops solar based solutions to automate some garden tasks we all share.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn between speaking at the Paideia School and other community centers, Joey popped in for a potluck lunch that occurs monthly at the Decatur Rec Center, home to the Scott Park Garden. To reach him directly about speaking or homestead services, find him on his website or facebook and/or spreading the seed at the Wylde Center in Oakhurst. Http://zeiglerhomesteadservices.com/about-joey/

The Scott Park Garden is an organic community garden hosted by Decatur Active Living and although the garden is full, there is a waiting list and plots are $25/year. Contact Tracie Sanchez, Adult Program Leader for more info at tracie.sanchez@decaturga.com or 678-553-6559.

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Thanks to Emory Volunteers Scott Garden Has Been Transformed

November 16, 2012 by Leave a comment

Kathy Hightower gives thanks to Emory Volunteers:

In 3 hours on Saturday, November 10, Scott Garden (behind the City of Decatur Recreation Center) was transformed from a spooky, weed-encrusted ghost of a garden into a freshly weeded, pruned and prepped garden, near ready for spring planting. Twenty Emory student volunteers along with a half-dozen DeKalb Extension Service Master Gardeners and city volunteers raked, pulled and chopped away mountains of weeds that had accumulated in the almost two years that the garden has been closed while the city’s recreation center has been under a major renovation. 

 Scott’s gardeners and the city are extremely grateful to the Emory students who donated their time and energy on a beautiful autumn day to spiffing up this garden. It was dirty, dusty work and the spirit of the volunteers was always cheerful and industrious. The gardeners will be planning their spring plantings soon and this extreme volunteer effort will give them a head start for a successful season. 

The community garden is under the auspices of the Decatur’s Active Living department with each of two dozen beds maintained by a city resident. The gardeners grow their own selection of annual and perennial vegetables, flowers, roses, shrubs and herbs. Several areas are maintained   by the Master Gardener program as demonstration beds for native plants, a butterfly garden, and composting. 

This is a DeKalb County Extension Service sponsored site with four Master Gardeners assigned to manage the community garden and lead educational efforts. DeKalb’s Extension Service sponsors some 20 Master Gardener sites in the county.

 

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