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FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Stoney Creek Drop Garden is beginning to take shape and look like a garden. Growing at the site is a variety of potatoes, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and assorted greens.
Overseeing the garden is Amy Coy, Program Coordinator, and members of the group are Stoney Creek volunteers, who include several seniors and some children ages two to 10. And, there has been some help from animal mascots….Bonnie, Clyde, Marilyn, and tabby cat, Bob.
The Drop Collaborative’s (DC) Harmony Garden is a program designed for quality of life for Senior populations. Under McCoy’s leadership, DC’s Harmony Garden Mode incorporates teaching gardening, music aromatherapy, art respite, partnering with non-profits and small businesses, donating harvest to the community, and mentoring youth.
The Stoney Creek garden is located at 500 Dry Hollow Road on a farm formerly owned by John C. Drop, who conceived a plan to turn his Stoney Creek farm into an educational laboratory to teach school students about farming and food production. At the time there was not much thought about how the program could help during the summer when students are out of school.
After John and Patti Drop passed away, the Dry Hollow farm passed to Patti Drop’s sister, Frances Myer. In trying to decide what to do with the farm, Frances and her daughter, Pattie Meyer, developed the idea of turning the farm into an education center and a way to serve the community.
The farm not only serves as a working farm but as an education experience. The Drop Collaborative continues to work the fundamentals of agriculture to a new generation, while harvesting the food raised by the students to organizations such as Second Harvest Food Bank to help ease hunger in the region.
The Harmony Garden, as the Meyer farm is now known, is currently a pilot program. It is designed to teach gardening and incorporates mentoring young as well as raising food for the community. It has been the recipient of numerous state awards.
Unaka High School’s agriculture department has been very instrumental in the success of the Drop Garden, which has a number of raised bed gardens.