By Stephanie Williams Dean

For the Enterprise

With a mission of teaching gardening skills and assisting others to grow their own gardens, Mocksville’s community garden, Deep Roots, takes it one step further by offering cooking classes.

If you’ve been thinking of acquiring some new culinary skills or just interested in learning about gardens and growing fresh produce, these classes might be for you – they sure sounded good to me so I decided to mosey on over to check one out.

From what I could tell, the camaraderie of other gardeners and cooks was just one more good reason to be there.

Concluding their second year of classes, the instructors at Deep Roots warmly welcomed their guests including myself to summer’s final class in August. Participants were offered a delicious tasting experience and the recipe for some of their culinary creations using summer’s fresh produce.

A faith-based community garden, Deep Roots, donates a large portion of the produce grown by gardeners to charitable organizations. While Deep Roots garden season runs from April 1-Oct. 31 annually, you can put stock in the fact their cooking instructors will stay busy during winter months, planning, preparing and collecting some worthy recipes for the abundant produce from next year’s garden. Before their next cooking class, you might consider cultivating some fresh produce in your own bed – come April.

For an application to Deep Roots, contact the garden coordinator, Diane Salmon, anytime from sunrise to sunset at godsgarden1125@gmail.com.

Deep Roots is sponsored by the Mocksville First United Methodist Church.