New Vrindaban’s Small Farm Training Center – Green Wheeling Initiative
Locally Grown Food On Menu
Workshops promote healthy, garden eating
May 16, 2013
A group of local gardeners wants to show Wheeling that even those who see more concrete than grass when they look out the window can still prepare tasty, nourishing meals straight from their backyards.
Beginning Saturday, the Green Wheeling Initiative will hold a series of 10 workshops over the next five weekends designed to teach the basics of planting and tending a productive vegetable garden.
The free sessions are designed for beginners, including children, as well as the experienced gardener, said Green Wheeling Initiative member Terry Sheldon.
The group eventually hopes to see 10 percent of all money spent on food in Wheeling spent on locally grown items. According to Sheldon, it’s possible – practical, even – to move away from eating frozen, processed foods that travel hundreds or even thousands of miles, even in an urban environment.
“It’s ambitious, but there’s a craving, there’s a real hunger for knowledge on how to be healthy and how to keep food dollars local,” he said.
The workshops focus on a variety of topics, from urban gardening to composting, protecting plants from the elements and “no-dig” gardening.
They will move among several venues, including the Wheeling Island Garden Hub on Maryland Street behind Madison Elementary School on Saturday and June 15; the 18th Street Overpass Garden at the corner of Wood and 18th streets in Wheeling on May 25 and June 1; the Pulaski Community Garden on Jacob Street in South Wheeling on June 8 and the Small Farm Training Center at the New Vrindaban Community in Limestone on May 19 and 26 and June 2, 9 and 16.
Sessions last for an hour, with Saturday workshops beginning at noon and Sunday workshops at 3 p.m.
For more information on the workshops, call 304-243-5990 or email to info@farmeducation.org. Sheldon said the group plans to hold additional sessions in the fall.
