MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) — Volunteers in Mount Pleasant spent Sunday planting the town’s first food forest, a project leaders say will provide fresh produce, create community connections and grow into a long-term resource for residents.
Dozens of people of all ages and from all over the Lowcountry gathered at the R.L. Jones Recreation Center to plant more than 100 trees that will eventually produce fruits including plums, blueberries and oranges. Organizers said some of the plants could be ready to eat as early as next year. But the project is designed to do more than add greenery or even grow plants.
Benjamin Sinderman, the project designer, said the food forest is intended to strengthen community ties while expanding access to healthy food.
“In any town, the value of community is number one,” Sinderman said. “This is also bringing people together and teaching people how to grow food, and then also providing access to nutrient-dense food options.”
T.J. Rostin, director of recreation for the Town of Mount Pleasant, said the turnout exceeded expectations and reflected strong community support for the project.
“We didn’t know how many folks would want to come out and do this, and we just kind of spread the word and we have all these folks here,” Rostin said. “It’s really cool to see folks taking time out of their Sunday, their day of rest, to come out here and put a little work in.”
Rostin said the food forest offers residents a new way to connect with the outdoors and each other.
“It’s something unique and different for the town that we think our community will enjoy being involved with,” Rostin said. “It’s a way for us to give back to nature and let nature give back to us.”
Rostin said the garden is also meant to provide a flexible outdoor space for residents who may not be interested in traditional recreation programs.
“You don’t have to play basketball or go to summer camp or do swimming,” Rostin said. “You can come out here, enjoy the food forest, read a book, plant something.”
The food forest is expected to become a public space where residents can reconnect with nature, volunteer together and help supply food to people in need.
Among those helping were members of Cub Scout Pack 9, who joined the volunteer effort and rolled up their sleeves to make a lasting impact.
Joseph Moreland, den leader of Cub Scout Pack 9, said he hopes the scouts feel connected to the project and continue returning to help care for it.
“I hope that the actual benefit here is that they come back and come back and come back and keep helping, knowing that they started it,” Moreland said.
Community members from across the Lowcountry also took part in the event by extracting indigo seeds harvested from Boone Hall. Those seeds will later be planted on farms throughout the region.
Indigo was once a major export in the Charleston area, produced through enslaved labor. Organizers said the seed project reflects an effort to recognize that history while supporting local agriculture today.
Brenda Dowling, owner of Ponderosa Black, a farm in St. George that is receiving some of the indigo seeds, said the project also offers an educational benefit.
“That’s pretty exciting for the town of Mount Pleasant to do something like this,” Dowling said. “Not only is it educating people, which we could all use, but it’s also connecting them and feeding them.”
Dowling said indigo has broader uses than many people realize and she hopes interest in growing it continues to return.
“Indigo will be very interesting for us, but it has so many benefits,” Dowling said. “People know indigo to just be for dyeing, but it’s so much more, and we’re just trying to get back in the habit of producing indigo.”
She said partnerships like this also help highlight efforts to support small businesses and local farmers, even if they aren’t directly in Mount Pleasant.
“It just kind of gives us a little bit of recognition on what we’re doing to try to help possibly in some areas that don’t get a lot of fruits and vegetables,” Dowling said.
She was joined by many other farmers who made the trip from St. George to also plant indigo and pay it forward by volunteering for the food forest, too.
Rostin said officials are still developing plans for how the future harvest will be distributed, but the long-term vision reaches beyond this first site.
“We’re getting started today, but over time it’s going to develop and hopefully become a fixture for our community,” Rostin said. “Our goal is for this to develop in other parts of our community.”
He said the R.L. Jones Recreation Center was chosen because of its visibility and steady traffic.
“We had a really unique spot right here, one of our oldest rec centers that a lot of people frequent,” Rostin said. “We hope folks are going to see it, want to become a part of it and then hopefully we’ll be able to do this in other parts of the town as well.”
He said town leaders hope residents will continue returning to help maintain the garden in the years ahead and the project will soon pop up in other areas across town.
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Dining and Cooking