An array of plants borders a stone walkway at the home of Signal Mountain resident, Donna Smith on Tuesday. The Smith’s home will be featured in the Spring Garden Tour that benefits the Chattanooga Food Bank.IF YOU GOWhat: Chattanooga Area Food Bank’s 25th annual Garden Tour.When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. June 2,1-6 p.m. June 3.Where: Kin and Suzanne Smith, 549 Bluebird Circle; Jim Keown, 8633 Pershing Road; Dona Smith, 3040 Laurel Cove Lane, Signal Mountain; Food Bank’s Evelyn Davenport Navarre Teaching Garden, 2009 Curtain Pole Road; Jane Elmore, 901 Oak Street; Montessori School Sensory Garden, 301 Montessori Way.Admission: $15; free for children under 12.Contact: 622-1800 or www.ChattFoodBank.org.CALENDARS AVAILABLETo celebrate the Spring Garden Tour’s 25th anniversary, calendars will be available highlighting gardens that have been featured on the tour over the last quarter-century. Made possible by Holcomb Garden Centers, the calendar is available as a gift to supporters who donate $20 or more to the garden program. Calendars will be available on the June 2-3 tour, by calling the food bank at 622-1800.
Most people may think of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank when they donate groceries to fill its shelves. But one of the programs it promotes is for area residents to grow their own vegetables.
The organization is dedicated to educating area residents on how to become productive gardeners, said Jane Mauldin, garden coordinator. To increase that interest, the food bank will present its 25th anniversary Spring Garden Tour next weekend.
The six public and private gardens on the tour include the food bank’s Evelyn Davenport Navarre Teaching Garden, where 23 raised beds produce food each summer.
“We [grow] fresh produce that is then added to the food bank’s emergency food boxes,” said Jane Mauldin, garden coordinator. “We raised over 2,000 pounds of fresh produce in 2011.”