Members of the Pell City Gateway Community Garden, including Linda and Howard Tutwiler, Lisa Phillips, Kevin Lilly, Cecil Taylor, RJ Eason, Deborah Smith (treasurer), and Mary Taylor (President), break ground at their new location on Mays Bend Road. Photo by Larry Daugherty

A few winter crops could be seen peeking through the layer of snow still covering the ground at the new Pell City Gateway Community Garden location on Mays Bend Road.

On Saturday, December 9, volunteers of the non-profit community garden held a groundbreaking ceremony with the Pell City Chamber of Commerce. The garden relocated to 3705 Mays Bend Rd, Pell City, on property owned by St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church.

“We were really familiar with the garden. We were able to offer them an endowment last year,” St. Simon Peter Episcopal Church Rector Mollie Roberts said. “We had this property that we used for overflow parking. It was just a synergistic opportunity to be beneficial to them and help feed people.”

The church has ongoing food ministries, like “Feed my sheep.” On the third Saturday of every month between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., the church gives away uncooked rice and beans as well as non-perishable food items to help families in need. They hope to work with the Community Garden to help “put food where it is needed.”

The Gateway Community Garden has donated freshly grown produce from spring and fall harvests to the Christian Love Pantry and the Pell City Senior Center since beginning three years ago. They were previously located on Comer Avenue on a corner of the old Avondale Mills property. The City of Pell City allowed the garden to use a portion of the property, but because of possible soil contaminants, the Garden had stipulations to have raised beds for planting and could not plant directly into the ground.

“I am very excited about our new location across from St. Simon Peter’s Episcopal Church,” Gateway Community Garden Vice President Renee Lilly said. “The Garden Committee has worked very hard this past fall to move everything to the new location. We also had a productive harvest before our transition.”

At the new location on Mays Bend Rd., the Garden has room to grow. The Community Garden has plans to expand in the new space, which will now allow them to plant fruit trees and more produce.

“We have created a beautiful plan and we hope the community will come out and help us create our vision into a special place to grow fruits and vegetables to give back to the community in need,” Lilly stated.

For more information about the Pell City Gateway Community Garden, contact 205-505-9291.