Tucked behind the Applewood Senior Independent Living community in Lawrenceville, GA sits a humble community garden that has provided residents with healthy and affordable food for two decades.
Many of the residents at Applewood Senior Independent Living, a senior community, rely on the community garden’s harvest for their own food security.
Contrary to the septu- and octo- genarians that live in the senior center, the 20-year-old community garden outside is overdue for an upgrade. With raised beds made of aged-wood and an impractical water system, the garden is ready for renovations.
Food Well Alliance’s financial support will provide the seniors with self-sufficiency in the garden. The garden leaders will install a subsurface drip irrigation system that will create greater ease in the planting experience for senior growers.
Mending the Gap, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide opportunities where seniors can serve as role models for youth, manages Applewood Community Garden. The garden serves as a venue for an intergenerational program, where both the old and young plant and grow together.
Applewood Community Garden will also bring longevity to the gardening experience through the youth planters who are adopting growing techniques early on thanks to their senior companions.
