Grow Ohio Valley is proud to be in its FIFTH year as a garden grant partner with Grow Appalachia! It is only my second month as an AmeriCorps member serving at Grow OV, but I’m inspired by all the talented individuals and organizations working together to grow community and battle food insecurity in our region. After three decades of working behind a computer, I am thrilled to be spending an “adult gap year” with nearly thirty Upper Ohio Valley families who are as excited about backyard gardening as I am!

Despite a rough flu season and snow on the roads, forty-three people made it to our first workshop in February where we introduced our cohort of gardeners to Grow Appalachia, Grow OV, and garden planning. Our friends at Laughlin Memorial Chapel generously shared their space with us while Grow OV’s Urban Farm Manager, Sara Stec shared, not only her expertise on production planning, but also a beautiful spread of winter radishes – they were a big hit!

A few gardeners brought soil samples to the workshop while others dropped them off as their frozen yards thawed. For a few evenings my kitchen counter became a lab of sorts as I practiced determining soil texture by feel. WVU Extension pitched in by answering questions as I packaged and shipped thirty-two soil samples to the WVU Soil Testing Laboratory.

Soon, I will be swimming in seeds as I divide them into packs for each of our gardeners. The Grow OV farm team will help get me up to speed on the best ways to start transplants in the greenhouse and we will participate in a seed swap hosted by the Ohio County Public Library. Then we will bring our gardeners back together for our next workshop covering soil preparation, amendments, mulch, transplanting, and seeding.

Thus far, my favorite part of coordinating the backyard gardener program has been getting to know some of our gardeners on an individual basis as they either stopped by the office, invited me to their home as they brainstormed about where to site a new garden bed, or emailed a photo of their garden map while determining how many seeds or transplants they will need. This really has me looking forward to all the site visits in April when we will help our gardeners get their beds ready for planting.

It’s going to be a great season!

Hope Coffield
AmeriCorps Member serving at Grow Ohio Valley