Page 20 - Spring 2021

COVID-19
Garden
Oconee residents dig in the dirt during pandemic
Oconee resident Katie Castleberry and her husband created a small garden during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Katie Castleberry’s back yard has been transformed.
What was once merely more grass to be mowed is now covered with raised beds and till-free garden beds. Perhaps a thriving enterprise will emerge.
Until a year ago, Katie was a suburban mother and wife as well as a paraprofessional in the school system. But her life was changed in unexpected ways when the world stopped for a pandemic.
Like nearly everyone else, the Castleberry family was forced into suburban isolation. The world slowed down, and suddenly she had time on her hands.
Then came what she calls the “lightbulb moment.”
Her husband, Jason, started working his Zaxby’s corporate job from home. Their two girls were doing their school work virtually. Life suddenly was confined to their little world on Crabapple Circle.
You can only play so many games of driveway basketball, take so many walks or shout across to your neighbors so many times.
“I remember the moment the crazy adventure started,” she said. “I was walking through the yard and started picking various flowers, some of which were just weeds. I created this little bouquet. It was such a lightbulb moment for me. I knew I had stumbled upon something awesome. And Sleepy Bee Blossoms was born.”
The Castleberry family was certainly not alone.
Not far away in Thornwood subdivision, Mike and Nicole Roberts went from a double handful of tomato plants to three times as many, plus peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, corn and watermelon.
These Oconee households were among the millions of Americans who turned to gardening last spring. The free time
Right, clockwise from top left: Castleberry loves to grow dwarf Dahlias; pollinators fly from bloom to bloom; Black-eyed Susans make the perfect addition to a summer arraignment; dwarf Dahlias are beautiful in bloom.
sBlake Giles is a retired editor for The Oconee Enterprise newspaper in Watkinsville, Ga., and a life-long storyteller. PAGE 18 | OCONEE THE MAGAZINE | SPRING 2021
By Blake Giles
Blake Giles