Uniting Hands, Growing Community, Planting the Future

Future Projects:

Much of these Upcoming Projects and Program goals will be ensured as partnerships continue to develop with community organizations and businesses, which are currently in the planning stage, and as Grants are received to assist with funding.

Workshops:

Several upcoming gardening education workshops are to be scheduled with John Marra, WSAZ’s gardening expert and previous Cabell County Extension Agent for over 30 years; We will have a continued partnership with WVSU’s Junior Master Gardeners Program with Melissa Stewart, WVSU’s Ag Agent; Home Depot of Barboursville has offered to develop workshops on the following: home improvement, landscaping and gardening. These will be taught by experts from each department. All of these will be hosted by the Barnett Center, which is the City of Huntington’s Weed and Seed program office.

Photo Project:

Disposable cameras will be distributed to responsible children in the Fairfield Community with instructions to photograph the most beautiful and most desolate areas of their environment/community. The children will then be asked to label the photos and a presentation will be created to present to local organizations in order to help raise awareness about the environmental impact that our current situation has on the children of our area. This presentation will be given in conjunction with a proposal to create gardens in these areas, both for beautification and nutrition (these garden projects proposed are listed below). We plan to ask for funding for this project from local media.

Quilt Gardens:

Founding members of the Huntington Area Revitalization Coalition are offering their expertise in creating a quilt garden at Harris Riverfront Park in order to increase positive image and attitude in the city, add an opportunity for future tourism and economic growth and to create beauty in the city. We plan to work in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation board of Huntington, the Neighborhood Associations, local greenhouses, local government, the tourism and convention bureau and local businesses and organizations.

This project will use traditional Appalachian quilt patterns to create beautification and art gardens throughout the city and intends to promote these as a tourist attraction which will increase community pride, educate people and build community involvement through quilt garden contests and other quilt related events. This will further tie Huntington into the Appalachian Quilt Trail and bring visitors to our area, thus serving the local economy. 

Art Garden:

One Art Garden: 2321 8th Ave. We are developing plans with local artists who have offered to create an art garden. It would display local, traditional and modern West Virginia art, and provide opportunities for education. The Artists involved would manage the garden and the project. While HCG would provide tools and supplies, help with the installation of the project, and assist with garden maintenance as needed. 

Urban Agriculture Gardens:

Two new Urban Agriculture Gardens: 1112 Minton St (half lot), and 1437 11th Ave (double lot). The use of both these lots has been donated by local community residents. These Urban Agriculture Gardens represent two and a half lots for growing food and will benefit people who live in the Fairfield community, including Northcott Court, Washington Square and Carter G. Woodson public housing projects. This project fulfills one of our most pressing missions: to teach people to cultivate, harvest and eat from food gardens.

Culinary Arts with Garden Produce:

We plan to partner with gardening experts as well as nutrition experts and local chefs to create a program which will bring locally grown fresh produce from seed to plate.

From the start, we have offered fresh foods to volunteers at each of our work days. Now, to expand on this idea, we plan to offer fresh foods prepared by experts in nutrition for free to community residents and volunteers at each of our scheduled work days on the Urban Agriculture sites. The foods will be made from the produce that we will be planting and we will distribute literature which will describe the produce, its beneficial health properties and how to prepare each dish to community members so that they will be able to not only be a part of food cultivation, they will also feel empowered to use the harvest on their dinner tables.

Native Plants Garden:

Native Plant garden - (1129 Minton St. and parts of 1437 11th Ave.) We are developing plans in partnership with plant specialists which will help develop a native plants garden in a park-like setting which will educate both children and adults on native plants, their uses and histories. 

Partnership with Marshall University Science Department:

Dr. Chuck Somerville, the Dean of Marshall University’s College of Science (CoS) has gathered a team of faculty and staff who are interested in helping to support our Community Gardens projects in the following ways:

  • Botanists in the group will share their experience and ideas on the implementation of garden lots 
  • Experienced Grant Writers will help us to identify funding sources and prepare proposals which will aid in creating a sustainable administrative structure for HCG so that we can continue with current projects and expand to create future projects for the benefit of the city 
  • Researchers are interested in developing lots dedicated to various topics, such as Phytoremediation of polluted lots, obesity and nutrition studies, etc. 
  • Greenhouse Space on the Marshall University campus will be provided by the CoS in order to help us nurture our own seeds and plants, they hope to fund a greenhouse manager with the knowledge and expertise to help us to create beautiful, nutritious and sustainable projects throughout the community.

ACHIEVABLE RESULTS:

This may seem like a lot when detailed out in this fashion, but referencing what we have been able to accomplish in six months, the additional upcoming projects represent only five new lots for the upcoming season in 2010. In my opinion, because of the organizational and expert support that we have gained in this six months, what we outline here as our upcoming projects is not too ambitious for the current core group to manage, even without additional support, which I do expect.
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