Edible Jasper is the result of a collaborative effort of a dedicated group of folks in Pickens County, Georgia. The vision is for all of downtown to be landscaped with edible, medicinal, native, or otherwise useful plants.

Sustainable Pickens is a group that formed in 2010 with the intention of sharing knowledge to live sustainably and create community. Many terrific ideas were shared in the initial meetings, and Edible Jasper is one of the pilot projects that emerged.

The Pickens County Progress, our local newspaper, offered to support Sustainable Pickens by making some of its property available for planting, providing Edible Jasper with a space in which to begin growing.

The Progress has a large parking lot adjacent to its office. This parking lot has four light posts with grass islands around them, as well as a strip of grass between the parking spaces and the Main Street sidewalk. They made all this space available for planting. However, the group decided to begin with one light post to see how the plants liked their new home.

The first garden was planted late in the Spring of 2010....just before the drought and Summer heat began. Community service workers maintain the parking lot islands and they weed-whipped the new garden twice before they realized it was an intentional garden....it was definitely sparce and spindly in the early days.

Now, several years later, the garden has not only survived, but has become full and luscious. It is filled with spearmint, chocolate mint, bee balm, lemon balm, oregano, bronze fennel, rosemary, sage, wild onions, and heal-all.

What's Next?

The hope is that this first garden space will serve as an example that it is easy to landscape with useful plants that require no maintenance....that the concept will spread itself south down Main Street and that all of Jasper will be landscaped sustainably.

Imagine strolling down Main Street on a Summer evening....smelling lavender and rosemary while nibbling herbs and mints....

If you are a local business owner that would like to sustainably landscape your storefront, let us know! We're happy to help!

If you would like to help with future garden projects, let us know! We always need helping hands!