CRESTVIEW — Common Ground Community Garden's goals of unity and self-sufficiency are on its organizers' minds.
"We pray that we plant seeds of community and good fellowship," Ashley Tillery said during her invocation at the beginning of the garden's April 10 official opening.
More than four dozen members have joined the cooperative, according to garden organizer Catherine Ward. Other volunteers assist in general garden operation.
"We have 31 plots but one has 35 little Girl Scouts involved," Ward said. Girl Scouts of Troop 1318 and Boy Scouts of Troop 773 are among the volunteers.
Eagle Scout candidates Jerry Hand and Colby Walker will supervise construction of garden signage and compost bins, respectively, Ward said.
"There are at least 90 people involved down at the garden," she said. "We've been moving so fast I haven't had a chance to build up a list of people who have been volunteering."
Rain postponed the community garden's official Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting but benefited the vegetables sprouting in some of the garden's more than two dozen raised beds.
Garden, city and Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce officials gathered Thursday to celebrate the many anticipated benefits the garden will bring.
Volunteer expertise
To see the fruits of their labor, it takes a team effort — and a team of experts.
Garden coordinator Rick Pinch, a hydroponics professional, was instrumental in planning the garden, Ward said. He gained his role at one of the earlier planning meetings.
"He said, 'These meetings are good, but I don't want to talk about building the garden. I want to get it built,'" Ward said.
Bob Shreve, who died in a December car wreck, "made a really significant contribution with our website," Ward said. The site's interactive garden calendar will benefit growers throughout the area.
"It's just huge. There's so much going on. This has been quite a cool process," Ward said.
Mayor David Cadle recognized the impact the Common Ground Garden is having on the city when he proclaimed April 10 Crestview Community Garden Day.
At the close of the ceremony, gardeners and officials joined in "The Garden Song," singing, "Inch by inch, row by row, I'm gonna make this garden grow; All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground."
Thanks to a bevy of volunteers, plots and rows of fertile ground are sprouting fresh vegetables in downtown Crestview, augmenting families' budgets and pantries, and bringing people together.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Volunteers make Common Ground Community Garden grow