Connect Etowah NC

Growing Together Project Update #1: Healthy Soil Begins Here The Growing Together project officially got its hands dirty this week. If you haven’t read the original Growing Together post, that’s the best place to learn what this project is all about. Think of this as our first field report. This week, Clayton, Izzy, and I started working on one of the most important—and least visible—parts of the project: the soil. After talking with the North Carolina Extension Service and doing a lot of reading, we began tackling years of soil compaction around some of the trees. Instead of hauling away leaves, branches, and other natural materials, we’re putting them back to work. Cardboard, woody debris, leaves, and organic matter will slowly break down and help rebuild healthy soil beneath the surface. We also planted the first young native tulip poplars . These won’t be the last. The woods behind the parsonage are full of volunteer seedlings, and over time we’ll carefully transplant many of the...

Growing Together: An Invitation to Care for a Place Over the past few years, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what builds community. At first, I thought it was organizing events. Then I realized it was really about creating places where people feel comfortable showing up, contributing something small, and getting to know one another. That idea has slowly grown into something new. It started with a few beautiful old trees on the grounds of Etowah Presbyterian Church and the adjoining parsonage. When I moved here, I discovered the soil beneath those trees had become badly compacted after years of mowing and heavy equipment. The roots couldn’t breathe the way they should. With advice from experienced gardeners and the North Carolina Extension Service, I began drilling hundreds of holes beneath the trees, adding organic matter, compost, mulch, and anything else I could do to help rebuild healthy soil. Around the same time, my friend Dean helped save the largest evergreen by cutting ...