- March 9, 2025
About a year ago, Pam Morrow had an idea: She wanted to open a garden for her Flagler Beach community. Ever since, she thought about it almost daily. It became more than an idea; to her, it was a dream.
“I started thinking about it all the time,” Morrow said. “I was thinking about it so much that I starting saying, ‘What are you doing?’ It’s always going to be a dream if you don’t do something about it.’”
Morrow started talking about opening a community garden with other Flagler Beach residents. When she had enough supporters, they approached Linda Provencher, the town’s mayor, who liked the idea and brought it to the Flagler Beach City Commission.
Commissioners liked the idea, so they set aside a plot of city land to be used for the garden. The problem: It was overgrown and covered in garbage.
That’s when Lance Carroll, also of Flagler Beach, learned of the plan. He and Morrow worked to organize a clean-up of the lot, and on Jan. 26, Flagler Beach and Palm Coast residents began clearing the lot of garbage and overgrowth. Saturday marked the second day of work, and by the end of the morning, the lot was cleared.
Now, Morrow and Carroll are ready to move forward with her plans to create a non-profit organization to administer a community garden. They plan to build a greenhouse on the property — using donated time and material — that will be used to grow organic seedlings.
Residents will be able to purchase the seedlings at a low cost and grow them in plots within the garden.
“It’s like my dreams are coming true,” Morrow said. “We’re going to bring neighbors in contact with neighbors, and educate the community about genetically modified foods. I don’t see how we, as a community, shouldn’t make healthy food a priority for us and our kids.”
Saturday, the garden was full of residents who wanted to help. Some knew about the garden already; others noticed it as they walked by and stopped to help for a few minutes.
Carol Hagans, of Palm Coast, helped with both clean-up days. Her reasons for supporting the garden are similar to Morrow’s, and she plans to keep coming to the garden — for now, they work at 9 a.m. Saturdays, but eventually, those hours will be expanded.
The community garden sits on a lot on South Fourth Street, just accorss from the city’s post office. The city-owned property is currently under consideration as a new parking lot for Flagler Beach, as a part of efforts to solve the city’s congested parking system. In case the property becomes a parking lot, organizers are keeping the garden mobile with raised planters. Supporters are the garden plan to make it happen regardless.
“It’s all about bringing food that’s good to eat to people,” Morrow said. “That, and it’s about bringing the community together.”
