On an unseasonably cool summer morning, with vendors from the Thursday Farmers Market setting up in the parking lot below, Belinda Stubbs gazes proudly at her tomato plants.

Her garden plot is small, only 4 feet by 12 feet, but it has been providing her and the friend who helps tend it with okra, tomatoes, peppers, collards, salad greens and watermelon this summer.

A teaching assistant at the FirstHealth Child Development Center, Stubbs has taken advantage of the opportunity to grow her own summer vegetables in a community garden sponsored by FirstHealth of the Carolinas, the town of Southern Pines and N.C. Cooperative Extension Service.

Joining her in the venture are FirstHealth employees Felicia Pearson and Maureen Brophy, both of Patient Accounts; and Moore Regional Hospital volunteers Chris and Fred Cirule. All of the other gardeners are Southern Pines residents -- young, old and in between.

"We have young families, working folks and retirees, some expert gardeners and some who have no gardening experience," says Melissa Watford, a health educator with FirstHealth Community Health Services. "It's truly intergenerational."

Watford is the FirstHealth liaison for the community garden, an offshoot of a similar project -- called FirstGarden -- that introduces healthy eating and outdoor physical activity to Southern Pines children. That project is also a joint venture of FirstHealth, Southern Pines and Cooperative Extension.

The support group includes Master Gardeners, who not only work with the FirstGarden children but also provide training and ongoing gardening tips for the community gardeners.

"The community garden has been a positive, fun and exciting addition for the residents of Southern Pines," says Robert Reeve, director of the town's Recreation and Parks Department. "It has given people in the community a chance to come together and share the benefits of gardening as well as foster relationships among its owners."

The two gardens co-exist in a fenced area off Morganton Road between the National Guard Armory and the Southern Pines water tower. While FirstGarden is a learning lab for children in town-sponsored after-school programs and summer camps, the community garden offers local residents the chance to grow their own produce. The Town of Southern Pines provides the sites for both projects and enthusiastically supports the intergenerational concept.

"FirstGarden and the community garden have been a wonderful example of different people working together," Reeve says. "They have allowed young children and older adults the chance to work side by side while reaping the joys of gardening."

The 16 community garden plots are small, but all were snapped up this summer and have produced almost every imaginable type of veggie fare -- from peppers, okra and squash to tomatoes, corn and collards -- some under the vacant stares of well-dressed scarecrows.

Currently green and lush, thanks to the abundance of recent rains, the gardening area is equipped with a drip-irrigation system. Until the installation of the system this year, all of the watering had been done by hose, an especially onerous task during last year's drought-plagued summer.

More significant, however, is the fact that all of the gardeners follow organic practices. "There are no pesticides or chemicals," says Watford "That's part of the contract (with the gardeners)."

While some of the plots are tended by individuals, others are total family ventures -- moms and dads with a couple of kids each in tow. A group of youngsters from the local Junior Historians organization even tends a site.

Stubbs, who lives in Hoke County, shares her plot with a friend from church. She had never gardened before, but had kept up with the progress of FirstGarden through Watford, who has two children at the Child Development Center. She immediately signed up for a community plot after learning about the opportunity.

"I've never had a garden before, but I thought it would be fun," she says. "Everyone kind of helps everyone. You get to know each other and help each other out."

According to Reeve, town officials have, for a couple of reasons, been just as excited about the project and expect to continue the venture next year.

"The community garden area allows people to take ownership in their own gardens and helps promote healthy eating habits and taking care of the environment," he says.

The original FirstGarden project was funded by an 18-month grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, while a 12-month transition grant, also from RWJF, backed the community expansion. It has also provided the funding for a FirstGarden toolkit, a "how-to" for school and community gardens. The idea is to encourage other organizations to start similar projects.

"We hope our toolkit will help other groups that are interested in community gardening, too," Watford says.

Anyone interested in additional information on the community garden or how to get involved can contact the Southern Pines Recreation and Parks Department at 692-2463.