Big plans for 2020 at Common Ground Food Park

Asia Butler, Carla Zimmerman, Pam Sheffield, Kenneth Graves, Lee Albritton. Submitted photo.

Common Ground of Eastern North Carolina, Inc. has big 2020 plans for its Community Garden and Food Park located on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, across from Grainger Stadium. Common Ground is an all-volunteer organization that began in 2010, focusing on the development of a 5-acre Food Park, community garden, and natural playscape.

One of this year’s notable goals is the demarcation of the Walking Path around the perimeter of the Food Park. This will create the “backbone” of the park and will distinguish activity areas, such as the apiary, where the beehives are kept, and a future meditation labyrinth.

Valeria Davis, Karen Mulcahy, Tom Warren, Iris Jones-Nelson, Josie Walker. Submitted photo.

Common Ground’s annual Love Your Mother Earth Spring Clean Up Day at the Food Park will be held Saturday, April 18. The 50th anniversary of Earth Day will be celebrated with craft tables, information booths, and vendors, and, of course, cleaning up the park in preparation for the outdoor months. 

Another exciting focus this year will be the initiation of an Inclusive Garden. Elevated planting beds and ADA wheelchair-accessible beds will be added to the community garden to enable gardening without bending or squatting.

Maintaining the Park is costly, so fundraising is a perennial task. This year Common Ground will be producing their first fundraiser cookbook with recipes focusing on produce from the garden and park, as well as tips about herbs and facts about bees and honey. All proceeds will go toward park maintenance.

Common Ground of Eastern North Carolina, Inc. is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization devoted to enhancing the quality of life in eastern North Carolina through outdoor programming and community building. To achieve this mission, it strives to inspire, engage and support residents of eastern North Carolina to grow food, enjoy the outdoors, and take personal responsibility for their neighborhood environments.