Members of Mauldin Garden Club met at Furman Farm, located on Furman campus, on a recent July morning.  Bruce Adams, farm manager, and two student interns welcomed us, and Bruce introduced some of the principles used to organically manage the ¼ acre garden.  The Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities, under Dr. Andrew Predmore, offers the farm as a model for the education of students and members of the community.  The farm provides fresh food for the campus dining hall, and according to the Furman Farm web site, a “comprehensive composting program” is a core element of their “practice of sustainable, organic agriculture.”  This is a sophisticated large-scale composting program, which can compost items that residential composting methods cannot use.  The compost is used on their farm and is also available for purchase for residential gardens.  

The garden at the time of our visit was at the end of summer production and fall planting would begin about two weeks after our visit.  Since this was a “work and learn tour”, one group worked on preparing areas for fall planting.   They weeded raised beds and removed blossoms from the sweet basil to retain its flavor and sweetness. 

The other group went into the fenced garden and stripped out a row of a few remaining kale plants. They turned the soil, folded the chopped kale into the soil, covered this with a layer of compost, sowed collard seeds, and scattered additional compost over the seeds.  The newly planted area was then watered with Bruce’s “compost tea”.  

We were not the only volunteers working in the garden.  Volunteers are welcome from March through November on Thursday mornings from 9-11 am.  This is a unique opportunity to learn best practices while making a real contribution.   

Our visit ended with some of us enjoying a delicious meal at the campus dining hall. We may have eaten some of the farm produce!  It’s cool to think that in the months to come, the menu may include the basil and collard greens we worked with today. 

Mauldin Garden Club will meet September 14th at 1 pm at the Mauldin Cultural Center to begin our new season of learning and growing.  Our speaker will be Connie Gecy sharing how to have a yard full of beautiful butterflies.  Join us!