Pickens County Library
Edible Pickens at
the Pickens County Library
The staff at the Pickens County Library and the KPB Team wanted to collaborate on educational opportunities. We realized that they had a very large space in their parking lot that had nothing growing and that gets full sun all day – the perfect space for a garden!
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To provide a unique sensory experience that we could build programs with, we decided to develop a pizza-themed garden. It’s a large space to it will take some time to fill, but it’s happily growing! Stop by and grab a nibble…. Depending on the season, you’ll find garlic, tomatoes, basil, onions, oregano, peppers, and more.
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Check our Calendar of Events for upcoming programs in the Pizza Garden.
More Edible Gardens in jasper
GARDEN GALLERY
Photos are in reverse order with the most recent first so you can see the garden today. Be sure to scroll down to see how it’s grown!
This garden space has been experiencing some challenges. Most of the plants don’t want to grow; only the sage, oregano, and a few other herbs are surviving, and we’re not sure why. Were there chemicals in the soil that have leached up into our new garden soil? Is it just an issue of lack of water (even though we work hard to keep it watered)? We’re working to figure out what the problem is.
Thank you to Keep America Beautiful for awarding us the Green To Greener Grant to Fund this project.​
Pickes County Library for providing the garden space.
Green to Greener Grant to fund the 2026 rehab project.
Discounted and donated materials for the Pizza Garden.
What's the plan to figure out what the issue is with this garden's lack of growing?
We learned that you can’t test for toxins if you don’t know what you’re testing for. Most soil tests indicate nutrient deficiencies, not toxins.
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In our research, we found that peas are a good indicator species, so we decided to plant them throughout the garden space.
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With the Green to Greener grant, we purchased a Thirsty Earth networked olla watering system to insure that lack of water isn’t the issue. We installed that system on October 11, 2026 and planted 60 peas since the hot Georgia summer had passed.
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As of the start of November, the peas are sprouting!
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Check the library next time you’re there, or check back here for updates. Â
KPB is effective because of folks like you!
Keep Pickens Beautiful is a small non-profit organization run by mostly volunteers. Come lend a hand to help us keep our community beautiful, clean and thriving.