In Hilton Head, Sun City gardens, some find coronavirus relief. Others find locked gates
When members of the Okatie Farmers Club arrived at their garden plots in Sun City Hilton Head earlier this week, they found padlocks on the gates.
The plots, part of a network of 300 gardens, were closed due to coronavirus.
As grocery stores get crowded and staples such as bread, eggs, fresh produce and toilet paper are less available, some in Beaufort County are turning to community gardens and co-ops for fresh food that is only handled by a small number of people.
But different area gardens seem to be approaching the coronavirus outbreak differently. While farmers in Okatie can’t access their crops, gardeners on Hilton Head Island appear to be free and clear.
In Hilton Head Plantation, the plots on Seabrook Farm remain open, general manager Peter Kristian said. According to the gardening club’s online schedule, growers usually plant beans, melons, cucumbers, eggplants, southern peas, tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn and squash in March.
Kristian said the plots will remain open as long as gardeners practice social distancing.
On the south end of Hilton Head, over 50 garden plots for Sea Pines residents also remain open, according to Katherine Perry with the Heritage Farm Association, which manages the gardens.
The garden plots would only close if the town or governor issued a “shelter-in-place” order, she said.
“I certainly hope they stay open,” she said of the plots. “We provide a lot of produce to charities, soup kitchens, churches, and (Hilton Head) Second Helpings.”
Perry added that several plots in Sea Pines are farmed by organic growers who are benefiting from fresh food while staying home to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Sun City plots restricted
After locking farmers out, Sun City agreed to open the plots for three hours a day, farmer Chris Nagy wrote to The Island Packet. Farmers will be allowed in in shifts to attend to their crops in the mornings.
She said the board of directors is “micromanaging.”
She said she’s concerned over the state their crops will be in if the plots are restricted for too long.
“In the past two weeks, I have spent over $100 and 35 hours in my two garden plots,” Nagy wrote. “It is time (to) harvest cabbage, kale, Swiss chard, lettuce, beets, peas, radishes ... and more.”
She said she’s planted 30 tomato plants, 18 peppers, 12 eggplants, cucumbers, pole beans, Italian flat beans, zucchini, and yellow squash.
“These plants need (to be) watered every two to three days,” she wrote. “We need to get into the plots to keep (our) plants alive.”
Glen Carnrick, a member of the Okatie Farmers Club, told The Island Packet that gardening is a relatively safe activity during coronavirus since there are typically no more than a few members in each garden at any one time.
“Sun City has eliminated a source of fresh produce that many of our members rely upon,” he wrote in a letter to the newspaper.
He warned that with less access to the garden plots, “members will be increasingly forced to go to a crowded commercial grocery store for fresh produce.”
Members of the club have said the restrictions aren’t consistent with Sun City’s approach to slowing the spread of coronavirus, adding that Sun City’s nature trail and golf courses are still open.
‘Victory gardens’ on the rise during coronavirus?
The focus on growing your own in Beaufort County appears to mirror trends nationwide and echo World War II traditions of planting victory gardens.
Politico reported that during WWII, “school and community gardeners produced close to 40 percent of the country’s fresh vegetables, from about 20 million gardens.”
The news outlet also reported that seed suppliers are seeing record-breaking sales nationwide.
“Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, based out of Mineral, Va., has seen an approximate 300 percent increase in orders since March 15,” Politico reported March 27.
Gardening resources are also promoting getting out in the dirt and social distancing.
“Practically speaking, the gardens are also places that we can grow some fresh food that might be hard to find otherwise,” Garden City Harvest, based in Missoula, Montana, wrote in a community announcement. “And there’s nothing like digging in the dirt to brighten your mind and get your body moving.”
The site encouraged staying 6 feet away from fellow gardeners and wearing gloves when using shared tools during the coronavirus outbreak.
This story was originally published March 28, 2020 at 11:08 AM.
