PEARISBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – One garden in Giles County has a specific purpose.
“All of the food that we grow here, all of the seedlings grown in the greenhouse, they’re all given away for free. I think everybody should have an opportunity to eat,” said Chalie Herbert, founder of the Giles Community Garden.
A solid group of volunteers and several businesses pitch in to keep the garden going. The garden is in the vincity of low-income apartments. It’s open to those living there any time, day or night.
“They just help themselves, which is the way it’s supposed to be,” Charlie said.
Children are a huge focus of the garden’s mission. For eight weeks they come out to the garden and learn about planting, harvesting, and preparing the food.
“We learned about companion plants. The marigolds have a potent smell, so it keeps the deer away from eating the tomatoes and other plants,” said Emma Proof.
Emma’s favorite from the garden is the summer squash. She says it tastes the best.
Her brother Will learned how to protect the sweet potoates. He pointed out a covering used to keep the deer away.
“Our partners with Virginia Cooperative Extension show the kids how to be able to fix the food and how to be able to make healthy choices for their food,” Charlie explained.
The program gets Will’s approval. He said, “It’s quite fun.”
“If I can grab the kids early and change and train their palettes to eat well, there’s a good chance that they might be able to stay healthy for the long term,” Charlie said.
As this garden grows the hope is the community it serves will flourish, too, by helping to ease the burden of figuring out the next meal for those in need and teaching a generation the importance of eating food that’s homegrown.
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