Three years ago, Jill Dull got tired of seeing Westminster’s garden area overrun with weeds. Despite being ill with breast cancer, Jill determined to turn the area into a productive garden again. So Westminster’s Giving Garden was reborn.
“Jill gets full credit; she said, ‘We have to do this,’” says Jill’s best friend, Liz Pearson, who helped Jill start the garden. “Even on her last days we were talking about the garden.”
Although Jill died in 2021, Liz and other volunteers have kept the Giving Garden growing. Jill, a dedicated volunteer for the Out of the Garden project, disliked seeing healthy food going to waste. All produce from the Giving Garden is donated to Out of the Garden, a local initiative to fight food insecurity.
Volunteers sign up for weekly gardening duties, watering, picking ripe vegetables, and pulling weeds. Caretakers put ripe produce into Westminster’s refrigerator for delivery to Out of the Garden each Friday. This season, zucchini, yellow squash, kale, basil, peppers, cucumber, bush beans, and tomatoes are on the menu.
Brad Pollard, Westminster’s Facilities Manager, located the plastic raised beds, originally made for wastewater treatment, through Anua International in Greensboro. Anua liked Westminster’s plan to use the containers as plant beds and the fact that produce would go to Out of the Garden – they liked it so much that they donated eight plant beds and winter covers.
“Every year it gets bigger and better,” Liz says.
For more information about the Giving Garden, contact Caryl Johnson at caryls521@gmail.com. Sign up to water and tend the garden at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0445aea82ea13-garden.