Hope Grows community garden opens raised-bed rentals, seeds available at Thrive pantry

PARKERSBURG, W.Va . (WTAP) – Hope Grows, a community garden run through Community Resources Inc.’s Thrive program, is opening its raised-bed rentals for the season with limited spots available on a first-come, first-served basis.

The garden began seven years ago in partnership with United Way of the Mid-Ohio Valley. It provides community members access to a 4-by-8 raised bed, along with compost, water and tools needed to care for plants.

Hope Grows Coordinator Ben Nash, who has assisted with the garden for four years, said the project’s payoff is about more than produce.

“Only rule is no pesticides. We try to do pesticide-free organic, but there’s a gate that they’ll get key access and there’s a key for the tool shed and they can come and go as they please, just park in the gravel lot,” Nash said. “I mean, it’s food, getting in the dirt, playing in the dirt and growing stuff. It’s just rewarding.”

For the past three years, Nash has harvested seeds from produce grown in the garden and made them available at the Community Resources Thrive food pantry. Containers for growing the seeds are also available, he said.

“I’ll provide the seeds and containers, and you provide the soil and the love,” Nash said.

Nash said the garden’s harvest also supports local food assistance efforts. Last year, he said he was able to grow and donate about 1,500 pounds of produce to the Thrive pantry from the Hope Grows garden.

According to Nash, if there was enough interest, he would love to hold a class on how to grow plants in containers without using pesticides.

The rental fee for a raised bed is $15. Seven beds are available this season. Those who have a spot will get access to the front gate and shed full of gardening tools.

You can reach Nash for questions or to secure your spot by email at BNash@cricap.org.

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