Victory Garden Bountiful This Summer

The Victory Garden at New Bethel School is blooming with beautiful sunflowers and a great deal of bounty.

This year’s garden project has done well, despite huge spring rains.

“We’ve had a lot of summer squash, some cucumbers, green beans, sweet potatoes, excellent sweet corn, tomatoes, and cantaloupe that will be ripe soon,” said Karen Almeter, New Bethel School Preservation Association founder.

The New Bethel Victory Garden was named after the victory gardens of World War I and II. These vegetable gardens were all part of the war effort to feed the people both here in the United States and in England, Almeter said.

The garden project was started this year, as part of the New Bethel School’s preservation project. The building, which is located three miles west of Anderson, served as a school from 1915 to 1948. Volunteers established a nonprofit organization, the New Bethel School Preservation Association, in 2011 to restore the old schoolhouse.

By all measuring sticks, the garden has been a success. This spring, heavy rains put a damper on vegetable production, but Almeter plans to fertilize next year and put in specific plants to draw bees, improving pollination.

Rain barrels and soaker hoses also would help with watering tasks, she said.

The school’s renovation and the new garden project are community works that involve volunteers. Through the spring and summer, the Howerton and Abernathy families have helped Almeter weed, water and harvest the garden’s bounty. Those families recently helped her pick apples on her farm.

PHOTO SUBMITTED Annie Howerton, daughter of Melissa and Jason Howerton of Noel, picks apples at the Bernie and Karen Almeter farm recently. Howerton and her family have helped the Almeters in the Victory Garden at the New Bethel School.

PHOTO SUBMITTED Abram Abernathy, son of Ashley and Byron Howerton of Anderson, helps with apple picking at the Bernie and Karen Almeter farm recently. Abernathy and his family have been helping the Almeters throughout the spring and summer with the Victory Garden at the New Bethel School.

PHOTO SUBMITTED The Victory Garden at New Bethel School is blooming with beautiful sunflowers and a great deal of bounty.