Growing A Sustainable Community Matt Cooper hopes this ground in the center of Boone will soon give way to a community garden. Photo by Frank Ruggiero By Frank Ruggiero The scene might resemble a milieu from yesteryear, but Matt Cooper hopes it will usher in a modern awareness of sustainability. The Appalachian Cooperative for Progressive Sustainability (ACPS) is Cooper’s passion and full-time job away from work, and its fledgling community garden off Leola Street in Boone is being prepared the old-fashioned way for the upcoming growing season. To Cooper’s delight, Perry and Laura Greene horse-plowed the 1.2 acre tract Saturday, readying the soil for sustainable business. “It’s a sustainable process because it’s humans and animals – not a machine that can break down on us and deplete a limited resource,” Cooper said. “We can keep breeding humans and animals, but not fossil fuels.” Sustainability could be Cooper’s middle name, and he was impressed with the Greenes’ practice of sustainable logging. Rather than clear-cutting a forest, the two bring a horse into the woods, find the trees they’re looking for, cut them down and haul them out, leaving the rest intact. Cooper will employ the same sustainable processes in cultivating the Leola Street Community Garden. In September, the Boone Town Council granted a renewable lease of the land to ACPS for one dollar a year. Once plowed and ready to grow, the garden will be accessible to the entire community, with about 20 plots, averaging 20 by 30 feet, available for rent. Based on a sliding scale dependent on one’s income, the plots’ highest rental rate is $35 for an entire growing season. Since ACPS is a nonprofit organization in the making, all proceeds will go toward its mission of sustainability. Since the lease was granted, ACPS has been assessing its needs for the garden and managing the land. The organization’s first meeting saw 30 people in attendance, and Cooper said each subsequent meeting’s attendance has averaged between 20 and 30. However, donations and monetary contributions have been practically nonexistent, but Cooper hopes a thriving community garden will change that. Once the land is plowed, he plans to start planting fruit-bearing plants, including blueberries and raspberries. On his own plot, Cooper plans to grow vegetables specifically to sell to restaurants, raising awareness by demonstrating how sustainable agriculture can be profitable. “We’re up against a huge barrier these days,” Cooper said. “It’s easy to just work, then go home and don’t do anything. Our mentality is less work, more money.” That coupled with the ease and convenience of buying food at the grocery store means the majority of people are even less likely to bother growing their own, Cooper said. When funding begins to grow, Cooper intends to install a water pump to irrigate the garden, since the neighboring creek is polluted. The equipment and installation, though, would cost $1,500. As the garden progresses, the “community” portion of its name will become all the more prevalent. For one, Cooper intends to invite attendees of the N.C. Arts for Health conference, which he said will be held at Appalachian State University next year, to visit the garden and practice eco-therapy, which promotes health through one’s connection with the natural world. In a year’s time, he expects the garden to have matured, and said it would be an ideal place for conference-goers to visit. Cooper also intends to hold a fundraiser in August, featuring storyteller Orville Hicks, crafts sellers and barbecue. First things first, though. Once the plowing is complete, Cooper must wait two weeks and then add organic material to fertilize the soil. Then, it can be tilled so people can begin planting by early- to mid-May. For more information on the Leola Street Community Garden, visit www.leolastreetgarden.org on the Web.