project leader
Cristin P
location
3447 Princess Anne Rd.
(Landstown)
latest update rss
Summer Vegetables Planted

the project

Virginia Beach Community Gardens, Inc. (VBCG) with partner, Whole Foods Market is to develop a one and a half acre food-producing garden on land donated by Sentara Princess Anne Hospital. The garden will be the largest of its kind in Virginia Beach and will be open to the public. It will be located on land bordered by Princess Anne Rd., Medical Parkway and the Princess Anne Commons Gateway Park.

VBCG will assist and advise in the development of the land to produce food and provide education to community volunteers. Included in this is the training of residents of local shelters and food pantries who will take a large part of the harvest back to their organization for the residents to enjoy. Organic produce is the tangible outcome of the project, but the organization's focus is community building and education.

The project will take three years to complete and will be built entirely by volunteers. Phase I will include a 60-bed kitchen garden with education area, a compost bed and portions of the food forest, fruit orchard and berry patch. The garden will eventually include a meditation herb garden, children’s garden, green house and bee sanctuary.

the steps

The garden concept is based on modern, urban gardening techniques and is intended to provide a considerable crop yield for distribution to those in need of Virginia Beach. The garden will have a raised bed kitchen garden with various seasonal crops, fruit trees and bushes, and pumpkin patch. There will be enough space between the raised beds to for walking and wheel chair accessibility extending from the current sidewalk.

Seeds are growing for the spring build and planting to take place on separate dates in March 2015 with successive plantings each month. The sod will be removed form the plot and volunteers are needed to build 60 raised beds and fill with garden soil. Following that there will be events to spread the walkway material and plant seedlings and bushes.

why we're doing it

The goal of Virginia Beach Community Gardens (VBCG) is to help build community through shared experience and foodways by assisting in the development of community gardens. Food has a distinctly unifying role among all ethnicities, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds; therefore, gardens are an area ripe for community building. This concept makes everyone in the community an active participant and allows the community to learn new skills while providing themselves, their families, and their neighbors with wholesome food. Community gardens empower citizens and enhance democracy by allowing individuals to connect. It makes people believe in themselves and their community members, giving each a sense of “I matter” and “I can” as they are empowered through collaborative relationships. 

Conversation

I think this is wonderful and so needed in our community. I tried to submit a volunteer inquiry but the form would not allow me to answer the questions. Hopefully, someone will get in touch with me through here. Thank you for doing this!!
Nancy. I just now saw your comment. I apologize for the difficulty. If you have not already contacted us please email us at vbcommgardens@gmail.com or visit vbcommunitygardens.org

budget

$5,000 has been pledged to us from Whole Foods Market. All items will be purchased at whichever company will give us the lowest price. We have started price shopping for the lumber and mulch. 



ITEM COST
Lumber 2"x 12"x 8' $3,500.00
Top Soil 72 CY- New Earth Farm & Jack Frost Nursery $2,800.00
Compost 72CY- New Earth Farm & Jack Frost Nursery $3,300.00
Seeds  $150.00
Stakes 18" box of 25 & Twine $100.00
Screws 900 Count #10 x 4in - 1 box $128.00
Solar Shed from Home Depot $1,400.00
Tools - shovels, wheelbarrow, gloves, spades, tarps, drip hose $600.00
Mulch $3,000.00
TOTAL COST: $14,978.00

Less $5,000 Whole Foods Market pledge:



SUBTOTAL = $10,000
ioby Platform Fee  $35
3rd Party Payment Processing Fee (3%) $300
TOTAL TO RAISE = $10,335

 

Updated budget (as of 3/4/15):




Lumber 3500.00  
- (2500.00) Will be building unframed beds and 12 beds have been donated. Leaving only 6 that we need to purchase lumber for
Top Soil 2800.00  
Compost  3300.00  
- (1000.00) New Earth has given us a credit
Seeds 150.00  
Stakes 100.00  
Screws 128.00  
Shed 1400.00  
- (1400.00) Shed donated
Tools 600.00  
- (240.00) 40% discount given
Mulch 3000.00  
- (1500.00) Pervious Concrete walkway donated
Subtotal 8338.00  
- (5000.00) Whole Foods Pledge
- (1120.00) Check donations received
Total 2218.00  

 



SUBTOTAL = $2,218
ioby Platform Fee  $35
3rd Party Payment Processing Fee (3%) $67
TOTAL TO RAISE = $2,320

 

DISBURSEMENT BUDGET (as of 3/12/15):



RAISED = 980.00
ioby Platform Fee  waived
3rd Party Credit Card Processing Fee (3%) 28.54
TOTAL TO DISBURSE = 951.46

$339 - oil for the first 16 beds
$100 - stakes
$512.46 - lumber to build about 13 beds 4x8 beds.

updates

Thank You!

Build Day!

Our first day out at the garden location will be March 14, 2015. We begin to build and fill the 60 raised beds for the kitchen garden. Look forward to seeing you there and thank you for the support!

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Moseley Architects
  • Moseley Architects
  • L. Ashley Brooks, PLC
  • Ross Family
  • Susan Lovelady
  • The Allreds
  • Anonymous

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