Happy National Gardening Day 2025!
April brings blue skies, cherry blossoms, and everything a little seed needs to thrive in your garden this summer. If you haven’t started your garden, it is not too late. You still have plenty of time to grab your gardening gloves and start planting your favorite garden goodies!
Emily Collins, our Program Coordinator at Kelly’s Kitchen, has gathered her community in Grantsville, West Virginia to grow something pretty spectacular in a situation that might leave others feeling hopeless or overwhelmed.
If you know anything about the weather in West Virginia, you know about the rain. It rains a lot!! Flooding is a common occurrence in Grantsville, so much so that FEMA has declared several plots of land unsuitable for future development. Some people might submit defeat and let the land sit empty and unused for decades, but Emily Collins saw an opportunity.
Not only is Emily a valued Kelly’s Kitchen team member, but she is also the Grantsville Town Recorder. She knew that even if the land could never be used as commercial space again, it could still be used to help her neighbors with food insecurity - as a community garden.
Emily and her town partnered with the West Virginia University Extension Program who supplied seeds and starter pots for all of the vegetables planted on the FEMA lot. The City wanted to make sure all community members could take part in this community project, so they installed raised beds with cinder blocks where the sides were wide enough for residents to garden while sitting on the edge. This helps to ensure that community members of all abilities can benefit from the fresh air and community feel of the garden.
Emily hopes that these gardens encourage healthy eating, time spent outdoors, and community building. She told us that anyone can transform their neighborhood to promote communal gardening,
“Anyone who is interested in growing a community garden should reach out to their local extension office to see what they can provide. The United States Department of Agriculture might also have grants for local gardening projects.”
Emily hopes this garden will help residents with grocery bills as food prices rise, especially for her community where fresh produce is sometimes hard to come by and grocery stores aren’t always in close proximity.
It’s projects like this that show that anyone can make an impact in their local food system!
“All it takes is someone who is willing to lead the project and community members who are willing to show up for each other,” she reminds us.
May we all find a reason to get out in our communities this week and share the one thing that will never fail to unite us…fresh food! Happy growing FSN members.