Gaston now has a local garden to harvest fresh fruits and vegetables.

On Nov. 29, the Gaston Branch Library held a dedication for the new community garden, created through a partnership with West Columbia’s Brookland-Lakeview Empowerment Center and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

The garden is intended as an opportunity for residents to learn about gardening, volunteer in the community and help supply it with more sustainable and healthy food options.

“This occasion represents a pivotal point in this community,” Cindye Richburg-Cotton, Brookland-Lakeview’s executive director, said. “We celebrate this community garden as a place where library patrons and community residents will meet as a gathering space and experience organic sustainable gardening practices. As well as gain access to fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and other forms of garden variety foods.”

Also in attendance at the dedication were state Sen. Katrina Shealy, Gaston Town Council Member Carol McCombs, Lexington County Administrator Lynn Sturkie and the sixth grade Beta Club from Frances Mack Intermediate School.

After the dedication, the children were able to jump right into learning about the garden, getting taught what vegetables were which, learning how to harvest collard greens and even getting to take some home.

The project came to fruition fairly quickly, with planning starting in September, according to Michael Brown, a project manager with the empowerment center. He shared that staff spent their time building the garden boxes on sight, planting the first vegetables roughly a week after Labor day.

Darvis Jordan, the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s assistant state conservationist for partnerships, surprised those in attendance with a two-year extension of the grant the organization provided for the project, giving an additional $150,000 to extend its mission.

According to Richburg-Cotton, the grant had been for $230,000, funding a total of three community gardens.

Rebecca Shelton, librarian for the Gaston Branch Library, said the garden is a milestone for the community's journey toward a more sustainable living and more community engagement.

“Each plant that grows here stands as a symbol of our collective effort,” Shelton said. “A reminder that great things can be achieved when we work together.”

“We've already seen the fruits of our labor quite literally,” she added, gesturing to the garden boxes behind her containing collard greens, cabbage, turnips, broccoli and more. 

Shelton called the garden more than just a source of food for the community, saying it is also a sanctuary of learning and connection, where children in the community, along with adults, will be able to see the cycle of life unfold in front of their eyes, regardless of age or background.

The garden is aimed at helping the town of more than 1,500, labeled as a food desert, Jordan said, adding that a majority of counties within the state have somewhere that qualifies as a food desert – meaning that residents of the town aren’t within nine miles of a grocery store that supplies fresh produce.

“When we see great works like this going forward, we’re proud,” Jordan said. “It's a great testament of their passion, it’s a great implementation of your taxpayer dollars, because that's what this is your taxpayer dollars going to work."