All Together Planting

It was a chilly day, but spirits were high as the All Together! Friends Group gathered at Chatham Alliance’s Teaching Garden in the Pittsboro pop-up park to begin planting the Pollinator Garden.

All Together! is an inclusive group for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and founder Maria Troiani-Howard explains, “We meet weekly for activities, games, art, and dance…there are very few activities in Chatham County for our group. All Together! Friends Group is open to everyone, whether disability or non-disability.” Working with Extension Master Gardener Trish Hablutzel, the group had already started a garden club, and coming to the Teaching Garden was a natural extension of those interests.

Between group members, caregivers, master gardeners, and other helpers, over a dozen folks crowded around the sixteen-foot bed as plans were made, gloves donned, tools gathered, and planting began.

Rachel Nelms of Rachel’s Native Plants donated a mixture of annual seeds and potted perennials to get the garden established. The perennials were nestled into the soil and watered down, while packs of annual seeds will be sprouted separately and brought back to the garden when they are ready for transplanting later.

A pollinator garden is a refuge and an important food resource for the many species of butterflies and other insects that are experiencing habitat loss from increasing development within the town and county. Native pollinators have evolved together with the specific food plants they rely on, and both the clearing of land and the introduction of invasive non-native plants threaten their ecological balance.

It’s more than just a matter of attracting pretty butterflies; one-third of our food crops rely on insect pollinators, and our garden will help bring this awareness to more and more people who visit the Teaching Garden.

The All Together! Friends Group plan to return to the garden on a regular basis, not only to finish planting, but also to maintain the garden as the seasons go by. Community members are invited to visit the garden on their next visit to downtown Pittsboro.