Tucked alongside Moores Creek in Azalea Park, two wide rows of garden plots form a welcoming and fruitful oasis. Canes of blackberries stand tall, bunches of unripe grapes hang from the vine, tasseling corn peeks over the tops of fences and in the far corner, a grove of banana trees rises in a tropical salute.
Each fenced garden beckons with a unique entrance, reflecting, perhaps, the personalities and resources of each gardener: a ladder set to hinges, an old wooden door with a glass pane, a baby gate. Creative shade structures and tool sheds dot the gardens, while wheelbarrows rest upturned. Some plots are neat, with mulched paths and outlined beds, some show an encroachment of weeds and others still are abandoned jungles.
