Charles City FFA setting up community garden plots at fairgrounds

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Community gardens? Donating the food to the local pantry?

Count the Charles City FFA in.

Currently an area is being cleared and weeds are being removed at the Floyd County Fairgrounds for community gardens to be managed by the Charles City FFA. FFA sponsor Jim Lundberg said the plan is to break ground on the gardens sometime next week.

“I wouldn’t want anyone who wants a garden to not have a garden,” said Lundberg. “We will have space out there, if anyone wants it. We will do that.”

Last week, it was announced that a community gardening program originally meant for participants in a Floyd County Extension Service program has been opened up to anyone interested.

Thanks in part to a recent Grow Iowa grant, garden plots on Clark Street that had been reserved are now available to anyone in the community who would like to raise vegetables to donate to the local food pantry.

“Since all ISU Extension offices are closed, the new Buy. Eat. Live Healthy coordinator, Anne Litterer, has not been able to register participants in the program,” Master Gardener Susan Jacob said last week. “Instead, I am asking members of the community to help spend the $4,000 to provide fresh produce for low-income families.”

According to Lundberg, the Charles City FFA built the garden plots on 4th St. in Charles City when they were initially put in several years ago. He said that the FFA already has four garden plots at Charles City High School for student use, and the fairgrounds will be home to an FFA chapter plot as well as plots for individual students.

“If there are people in town still looking for a plot, we will make those available to them, also,” he said. “We have four kids lined up to do the ones at the high school, and the one at the fairground is going to be more of an FFA chapter plot, so different kids can go out at different times and take care of it, till it, whatever needs to be done.”

Lundberg said the high school plots will grow crops such as peppers and tomatoes, while the plots at the fairground will have things like squash and potatoes, “more of the fall crops that we can take to the food bank.”

According to Jacob, Grow Iowa grant program guidelines have become very flexible due to COVID-19. Anyone interested in a garden plot should call Christy Laube at the Charles City Development Office at 641-228-4234. Information on supplies, starter plants and seeds is also available through Laube.