Community Garden

The Farmers Branch Community Garden is committed to nurturing the earth through sustainable gardening while growing healthy food for families and the community through Metrocrest Social Services. Located at 12411 Templeton Trail in Farmers Branch, the garden is a partnership between the City of Farmers Branch, Chapel Hill United Methodist Church and Metrocrest Services.

The garden is open to members of the Farmers Branch community who:

• Live here
• Work here
• Go to school here
• Attend church here
• Are in some way an active member of the City

Is Community Gardening for You?

A community garden is a place where people of many different backgrounds join together for the common goal of gardening. It is important to understand that gardening in a community garden is much different than gardening at home. The following information may be useful to you if you are thinking about becoming a Community Gardener with the Farmers Branch Community Garden.

A Typical Growing Season

A garden plot requires time and effort at least seven months out of the year to produce a healthy harvest. Here are some basic tasks that are involved in basic gardening.

Preparing Your Plot

Healthy soil leads to healthy plants. Loosening your soil and adding compost before you plant will make your plants healthier and more resistant to pests and diseases. Compost and organic amendments will be available to you. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are not allowed.

Planting

You must take care in planning your garden, placing plants in spots where they will grow the best. Placing trailing plants in the middle will allow for vines to stay within your plot and not impede the walkway.

Providing Water

Seedbeds must be hand-watered regularly until sprouts appear above ground. Seedlings should be hand-watered daily for the first two weeks. During hot, dry periods, you may need to water your seedlings as much as twice a day.

Weeding

You will need to reserve time to keep weeds down in your plot and its surrounding pathways. By getting to weeds early in the spring, you will save on time and effort later in the season. Mulch will not only aid in keeping the weeds down but will help hold moisture in the soil.

Harvesting

As the plants mature and begin to produce, you must be there to harvest the fruits of your labor – the best reward of gardening! Keeping ripe produce picked reduces garden pests and vandalism and encourages more production from the plant.

Preparing for Winter

At the end of the season, you will need to remove dead plant material from your plot. Your soil will require a boost after giving so much throughout the growing season. Reward your soil by loosening it and incorporating aged compost and dried leaves.

Time

As with any other part of life, the more time you invest in gardening, the better your results will be. If you are unable to tend your garden, please make arrangements for someone to help you.

Organic

Our garden is organic, which means that we do not allow the use of chemical pesticides, fertilizers or weed killers. A commitment to organics is a commitment to health, a respectful relationship with the earth and a love for the many facets of gardening. For us, being organic is sticking to a simple philosophy: keep the garden healthy.

Keeping the garden healthy means that we work in natural ways to improve soil structure and nutrients, we recycle the garden's organic matter back into the earth and we promote a healthy ecosystem where birds, insects, plants, microorganisms and people all reach a natural balance that is beneficial for all. Importantly, keeping the garden healthy also means that we don't use synthesized chemicals. Synthesized chemicals are found in fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.

We want the land to receive only natural or organic fertilizers. This completes a natural cycle of growth and decay and nutrients stay within the garden. As for weed control, the use of herbicides is clearly not part of a philosophy that keeps a garden healthy. These chemicals are made to kill plants, and the gardener's purpose is to cultivate plants, not kill them. 

Your ability to commit time and energy to your plot will impact all those who garden around you. By faithfully maintaining your plot, you will protect it, and the surrounding plots, from unwanted weeds and insect pests.

Apply for a Plot

If you are interested in adopting a plot, please sign up here. If you are unable to fill out the online form, please contact us at 972-919-2625.