Community Gardens

About the Gardens

The City of Lenoir, the Caldwell Memorial Hospital Foundation, and the Caldwell County Ag Extension Office partner to provide the community gardens for residents. Garden beds are available to rent during season. Volunteers, Master Gardeners, and Ag Extension Agents schedule work days and training days to help gardeners make their thumbs as green as possible!

Amenities

Plum and pear tree orchard
Blueberry bushes
Rental gardens (families can rent the beds to grow produce)
Master Gardener demonstration beds
Pollinator garden
Bee hives (bees help pollinate the plants)
Cover crop garden
43-bed Community Share garden
Garden Shed
Picnic Shelter & Table
Restrooms
Water

Community Share Beds

The Community Share Beds are available for the public to harvest for free. The white, corrugated metal beds are located outside the fenced areas and are accessible to the public. They are marked as Community Share beds. We ask that you only take what you need and leave some for others.

The Community Share beds are white, corrugated metal beds.

Reserve a Garden Bed

For more information on the Master Gardener program or to reserve beds at the garden, contact the NC Cooperative Extension - Caldwell County Center at 828-757-1290 or visit caldwell.ces.ncsu.edu.

Purpose

The purpose of Unity Park and Community Gardens is to encourage and educate Caldwell County residents about the importance of eating healthy and about community gardening as a way to increase access to affordable, healthy foods.

History of Unity Park

Caldwell Community Gardens began with the plan to start one community garden in early 2009. By early 2010, nine community gardens had sprung up around our county, including one designed specifically for wheel chair accessibility.

In the summer of 2010, Caldwell Community Gardens, the City of Lenoir, and Caldwell Memorial Hospital received a FIT Community grant to build a walking park and raised garden beds for community gardening on the former Singer Furniture Factory site at 1419 College Avenue. The site is now known as Unity Park and Community Gardens.

The City of Lenoir Public Works Department built the garden shed at Unity Park. It is modeled after the shed at the N.C. Arboretum. The shed has two large rainwater cisterns that can provide water for the orchard and berry bushes, even in drought conditions. There is also an irrigation system for the raised garden beds.

In 2018, Extension Master Gardener volunteers began managing demonstration beds and teaming up with the NC Cooperative Extension - Caldwell County Center to host gardening classes. Produce harvested from the demonstration and collectively managed U-Pick area are shared between gardeners and donated to local food pantries other charities.

In 2019, the City's Beall Street Community Garden was consolidated with Unity Park. Now, a total of 96 beds occupy the space at Unity Park and Community Gardens.