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Update (July 8): Today I found out that a vegetable garden is going in at the Guilford County Courthouse in downtown Greensboro this month. The garden will be about 6 feet by 20 feet and grow squash and cucumbers and later some fall season crops (cabbage, collards, lettuce, etc.)  County facilities employees will maintain the garden this year and donate the produce to local food banks, said Karen Neill, an urban horticulturist with the extension office.

This is one of the most visible places one could install a garden as the courthouse gets a large and wide spectrum of visitors on a daily basis (although that begs the theft-of-produce question). Neill said County Manager Brenda Jones-Fox, a home gardener, made the request. This would put the number of community/public gardens in the county at at least 18, with another four proposed in Greensboro: Church of the Holy Spirit, the Old Asheboro neighborhood (off MLK Boulevard), Cardinal Manor (at the Cardinal Golf and Country Club) and Brandt Village.

The Cooperative Extension is in the process of expanding its community gardening guide, developing a produce use guide (as in, what do you do with all that kale?), and creating a Web site connecting and informing vegetable gardeners throughout the county, Neill said. Oh, and 16 gardens will participate in the tour I mentioned below. It will take place 4-8 p.m. on July 23, and I will send out a list of participants when I get it.

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It's hard to keep track of all the community gardens going in this year. I received a notice today that Saint James Presbyterian Church in Greensboro will dedicate its new garden on Sunday, July 19. The public is invited to the noon dedication and picnic at the church, located at 820 Ross Ave. Call 273-6658 for more information.

The Guilford County Cooperative Extension is also planning a community garden tour for later this month. I'll pass along the details when I get them. The extension service lists 17 gardens it has helped start in the county over the past five years, but the list does not count any gardens started independently. I hope to find out at some point all of neighborhood, school, agency or faith-based gardens that exist in the county.