Pensacola’s “From the Ground Up Community Garden” is soaking up the sunlight and the national spotlight after the award-winning community garden, located under the Interstate 110 overpass near downtown, was featured in a new TV spot from The Home Depot.
The garden was chosen for the commercial, or “60-second documentary” as the production crew called it, from a nationwide pool of candidates. The selection also included thousands of dollars in donated plants, construction materials and supplies from the home improvement retailer.
“… Witness the magic of gardening unfold as we empower communities to plant seeds of change,” The Home Depot said of the ad, released around April 12.
Production crews shot the video and interviews for the project in February.
Master Gardener Elizabeth Eubanks, who is at the heart of the garden and its many community outreach projects, was interviewed for the piece.
“Even though it’s only a minute, I think that they really captured the essence,” Eubanks said of the final product. “My only sad part is I wanted all my people in there, but it’s all good, and the people I’ve told that to are like, ‘We were just so happy to hang out together,’ and it actually prompted a little lunch at the garden, a potluck, which we’ll keep doing.”
New and old reasons to gather and commune with people or plants is a hallmark of “the Garden.”
Its widespread community outreach is one of the many reasons it was selected for The Home Depot’s feature.
The garden serves a variety of purposes: as a traditional “reap what you sow” garden in that people can volunteer and take some of the fruits of their labor home, as a platform for an array of artists from sculptors to musicians, and as a hub for healing and learning for students and people of all ages.
Marie Pokrant is a regular volunteer at the community garden and was one of the extras in the production.
“I was honored that Elizabeth asked me to participate in the filming of the commercial,” Pokrant said. “How wonderful that The Home Depot would invest in our community garden. From the Ground Up is a magical place that brings together from all over the world.”
The Home Depot’s production team tapped into local talent for help with the intensive two-to-three-day shooting schedule.
Austin Owens is art director for Lensea Film in Pensacola, which was hired to work on the commercial, with the help of contractor Doug Swipalski.
Owens said it was exciting to be a part of the national campaign that showcased Pensacola and the importance of the community garden, as well as the skills of local professionals.
As a skater and an artist, he often sees and visits the garden outside of work, since it sits side-by-side with Blake Doye Skatepark.
“I couldn’t think of a better use of that little block,” Owens said. “It was an exciting opportunity, and I think everybody saw it as a chance to show how awesome the community here in Pensacola can really be, and what the garden means to so many different people for different reasons.”
Growing ‘the Garden’
Eubanks joined the garden not long after it was established in 2015 as a project of Innisfree Hotels’ Hive Foundation, which converted the abandoned plot.
As lead gardener, she nurtured much of the garden’s growth, and it’s her interview that carries the 60-second documentary.
“Everybody is welcome here,” Eubanks says in the video spot. “Gardeners, non-gardeners, painters, artists. We’re trying to teach people how to garden and then we share our food with the community and with the volunteers.”
The Home Depot supports projects like From the Ground Up Community Garden by supplying materials, hosting educational workshops and partnering with organizations to foster local growing initiatives.
As part of the feature, the home improvement store provided a wide range of gardening and outdoor products to the Garden, including new lighting, plants, flowers, furniture and fencing.
Eubanks is grateful to The Home Depot but was quick to add that the Garden is supported by many other locals including chefs and restaurant owners, as well as businesses and organizations like Ace Hardware in Gulf Breeze and Seville Quarter Rotary.
She said Seville Quarter Rotary enabled her to buy two large, steel shipping containers that now serve as the new kitchen area thanks to The Home Depot donating a new griddle, grill and sink, along with plans for air conditioning and electricity.
She said all the additions have been transformative, not only making the entire area more user-friendly and fluid for workflow and events, but the new kitchen has also opened the door to new cooking classes and demonstrations with produce from the garden, fostering a “garden-to-table” experience and community building.
“We’ve already used the cooking equipment three or four times since it all happened in February,” Eubanks said. “We had the big potluck we want to continue, and we want to start Chef in the Garden sessions. It’s all snowballing into other things.”
Eubanks said since its release, the TV spot has generated an “overwhelming response” from family, friends and others who weren’t familiar with the garden, and now want to be a part of it.
For more on events and activities at From the Ground Up Community Garden visit its Instagram account.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Home Depot features From the Ground Up Community Garden in new TV ad
Reporting by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
