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What’s In the WFC Garden In Geneva County

By Janie Howell, District Administrative Coordinator, Geneva County Soil and Water Conservation District, Geneva, AL

 

Students work in the WFC garden.
A group of youth and leaders from the Wiregrass Farmers Cooperative on Goat Hill Road in Geneva, Alabama, met and had a garden work day. The youth have a demonstration garden as one of their projects.

People driving down the Goat Hill Road on the morning of June 3 wondered what was going on in the garden across from the Wiregrass Farmers Cooperative (WFC).

Thirty youth and children and ten leaders were having a Youth Garden Workshop. Youth showed up from as far away as Missouri, Barbour County, Mobile, Dothan, Opp, Geneva, and Samson.

The WFC youth have a demonstration garden and are learning how to work a garden. Now for those of us who grew up on a farm with a garden, we know that there is a lot of work that goes into preparing the soil, planting the vegetables, hoeing weeds, fertilizing, watering, and picking vegetables.

The youth were taught to identify the difference between vegetables and weeds. Being able to identify weeds and grasses is not always easy, but it is necessary to keep a garden healthy and growing. Demonstrator Melissa Baxley and Frank Petty, President of the WFC, pulled up and named common weeds and grasses growing in the garden.

The youth pulled up onions and gathered them in baskets, picked peppers, a few tomatoes, and eggplants. Many of the youth are not familiar with the vegetables growing in Geneva County. These youth saw sweet corn, okra, purple hull peas, zucchini, crook neck squash, black-eye peas, butterbeans, eggplants, tomatoes, and onions growing in the garden.

Everyone actually participated in pulling weeds and grasses from among the vegetable plants. Some used hoes but most used their hands. The vegetables harvested will be sold and put back into the Coop. The experience the youth received is priceless!

Following the garden work, everyone met in the classroom and heard from Demonstrator Melissa Baxley; NRCS DC James Currington; Jason Padgett, County Executive Director, Farm Service Agency; and Euneika Rogers-Sipp, Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network/Sustainable Rural Regenerative Enterprises for Families.  The youth were given information on organically grown vegetables, USDA programs, and marketing ideas.

The group will be gathering periodically throughout the summer to pick more vegetables. Come on by and purchase some fresh Geneva County-grown vegetables from the Wiregrass Farmers Coop youth demonstration garden.

Leaders work with youth in WFC garden in Geneva, AL. 

Leaders work with the Wiregrass Farmers Coop Youth to clean vegetable rows of weeds in the Youth Garden, south of Geneva.  

Group photo of students and leaders who worked in garden.

Children learn the art of growing vegetables from older youth and leaders at the Wiregrass Farmers Coop Youth Garden.

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