Local Garden Fosters Sense of Community

By Laura Haas

Doug Reynics became the chair of the Smoke Rise Community Garden when it was founded in January of 2012 and has taken the garden from an empty plot of land on Hugh Howell Road to a community center built on service and fresh, organic produce.  

Reynics is using the garden to foster a sense of community, bringing people together for a common purpose.

“I wanted to meet people in my community,” Reynics said, noting that Smoke Rise gardeners are as diverse as the community in which they live. “Everyone here has a unique story,” Reynics said.  

More than 38 community members garden at Smoke Rise, leaving twelve plots available for rent.

Renting out additional garden plots will help with funding for the garden growth projects that Reynics has planned. Since the garden operates within a limited budget, leasing more plots will help the board meet its goals for growth in the coming year. The garden has already met its budget for the coming year and Reynics has many projects lined up for 2014. He plans to build a fountain, vertical gardens and enhance visibility in order to draw local attention to the garden.  

Some of the produce grown at the Smoke Rise garden is returned to the community in the form of donations. Fourteen of the garden plots are used to grow foods for the food bank at the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Silver Hill Road.  

“The feeling of taking a bag of food to the food bank, that makes it worth it right there,” Reynics said.  

To date the Smoke Rise garden has donated more than 100 pounds of food to the church, a number that Reynics believes will multiply significantly this season.

For the moment, Reynic’s priority is bringing more people into the garden. Though it sits at the entrance to Smoke Rise, Reynics worries that many people still don’t notice it when they drive in and out of the community. The street side entrance is lined with colorful flowers but is somewhat hidden by tall shade trees, a fact that Reynics believes keeps the garden from reaching maximum capacity.

“We just want to get the word out that we’re here,” Reynics said. “So many people pass by all the time and don’t know that there’s a community garden here.”