The Plant City Commons Community Garden is offering a unique opportunity to get a hot and savory meal while still giving back.
On Dec. 6, the organization is hosting a Chili Take Away Sunday and will serve fresh, delectable chili meals to go at the garden.
Chef Shannon Shearer is creating two unique smoked chilis — one vegan and one with meat — and will pair the chili with “kernally” corn bread, a freshly harvested community garden salad and a dessert.
“Basically because we had to cancel our November five-course dinner fundraiser because of the pandemic, we decided to kind of fill in the gap with a chili takeaway dinner Sunday afternoon,” Community Gardens President Karen Elizabeth said. “Chef Shannon will do two versions and the vegetables are smoked, it’s very smoky and will be a perfect winter meal for people to enjoy. This is just our way of still hopefully having a successful fundraiser that will allow us to continue hosting our events and doing everything that we do here at the garden, while also offering a unique event for the community.”
Shearer is a name many in the community are beginning to recognize. She was a chef at the Sparkman House and recently served a smoked creamy vegetable soup at Empty Bowls that caught the eye of many attendees, including Cynthia Diaz, the owner of the Corner Store, who then purchased a large quantity of the soup and served it in her restaurant that week.
The Garden has been gaining traction over the past few years and is becoming a hub for outdoor events and community engagement. Partnered with a variety of organizations like the United Food Bank of Plant City, Girl Scouts, local schools and the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce, a variety of volunteer days, educational field trips and garden-themed events have been held at the location.
Of course, once the pandemic hit the garden became a mecca for residents who wanted to socially distance and still get outside to do something without endangering themselves. The garden was an obvious choice and many began to cultivate their own beds there.
“I think the importance of our community garden or any community garden has really elevated to a need or a priority that we haven’t really seen in years,” Elizabeth said. “People have become more interested in gardening and getting involved and people are understanding food shortages in a way that they haven’t before. We’ve noticed over this past almost year that having access to healthy and nutritious food is not something we can take for granted, and a lot of people are starting to really make that a priority in their lives.”
The garden asks that those who wish to attend pre-order by today so it can make sure there is enough food. This fundraiser is largely possible thanks to Hungry Howie’s of Plant City, which Elizabeth said generously donated and helped get supplies.
You can buy a single dinner for $15, a two-pack for $25 and a four-pack for $40. Purchase by visiting plantcitycommunitygarden.com. Pickup for the chili will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 6. You prepay, text when you’re 15 minutes away, drive up and get the chili delivered straight to your car. The number to text when heading to pick up your meal is 813-435-8111. You can grab the chili meals at 2001 E. Cherry St. on the south side of the Plant City HCC campus.