Garden program encourages residents to plant for food and happiness
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| Peggy Dyson-Cobb says that the Every House a Garden program will help families save money and create lasting bonds. (ADAM CANCRYN/ The Rockbridge Report) |
Organizers of a new program will try to make this spring a little greener and a lot more nutritious for some of Rockbridge County’s low-income families.
Local residents Peggy Dyson-Cobb and Steve Shultis created Every House a Garden in an attempt to reduce hunger in the county while sharing their love of gardening.
“We have all this space, but few people actually know how to garden and grow food for themselves,” said Dyson-Cobb.
Through Every House a Garden, she and other volunteers are offering families the chance to learn.
“We’re targeting mostly families with children,” Dyson-Cobb said. “We want to get everyone involved.”
The program will provide an experienced gardening mentor for each participating household. The mentors will work with the families to transform a 10-by-10-foot patch of yard into an organic garden. That garden could yield up to 15 different vegetables and herbs. Not only will that supply the household with much-needed food, Dyson-Cobb said, but it also should help establish lasting relationships between the mentors and their families.
Families can participate in Every House a Garden after filling out an application and undergoing an interview with one of the mentors.
Though still in its infancy, Every House a Garden has received an enthusiastic community response, said Dyson-Cobb. Barbara Thomas, president of the Rockbridge Area Master Gardeners Association, thinks her organization – a volunteer gardening and environmental advocacy group – can work well with the initiative.
“Master Gardeners is very educational,” she said. “We hope to do a little bit of teaching, supply mentors and possibly provide supplies [for the program].”
Local businesses are also helping out. Dyson-Cobb said the Rockbridge Farmers Co-op has already agreed to sell Every House a Garden some of its products at a discount. Dyson-Cobb said she is trying to reach a similar deal with Tractor Supply Co.
Lexington’s Potting Shed, a nursery and garden design store, also promised support if approached in the future.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” said co-owner Faith Vosburgh. “We’d be perfectly happy to help… they can certainly look to us.”
Dyson-Cobb said the group hopes to build on this initial support and turn Every House a Garden into a local institution. She said the program’s long-term goal is to serve up to 40 low-income households per year through a system similar to
Habitat for Humanity’s sweat equity concept. After the first year, she explained, some of the participating families might be able to use their new gardening skills to reach out to other new families in the program.
But for now, Dyson-Cobb wants Every House a Garden to be a fun way to empower families in need.
“People don’t realize the power they have to feed themselves,” she said.
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