Highland Youth Garden Digs in During Pandemic

On March 16, the first day of Ohio’s COVID-19 shutdown, Highland Youth Garden’s lead gardener Charlie Richardson was checking progress on rows of radishes, kale and peas. She recalled Highland Elementary students planting the vegetable seeds just weeks prior. She frowned knowing the students may not be back to harvest them with their schools closed indefinitely. 

“We were gearing up for spring, adding a second garden club and expanding our Green Teens summer jobs program, then COVID changed our focus,” says Charlie. 

She looked around the half-acre garden and all its abundance realizing that even though education programs were put on hold, the garden could still make an important impact growing food for the community. Here, 41.5% of the neighborhood’s children live in poverty, and 41% of households receive SNAP benefits. The COVID pressures just further heightened the needs of this challenged area leaving neighbors unemployed and in short supply of food in an area already considered one of Columbus’s “food deserts.”

Working six feet apart, board member Lisa Hobson and lead educator Katie Carey joined Charlie in the garden to begin planting an abundance of spring crops. Volunteers came, too. 

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“We had neighbors stop by, volunteers join from other closed gardens, and long-time volunteers return to help,” says Charlie. “The outpouring of support was amazing.” 

They planted peas, tilled in cover crops, transplanted seedlings, installed trellises, laid irrigation pipes, and pruned grapevines and brambles. They even purchased grow lights and started more seedlings in their homes. They also filled the garden’s mini library with chalk, books, games and puzzles for the home-bound neighbor kids. 

One day, Katie proposed passing out bags of fresh produce and by May 5 the team had set up a pay-as-you-can drive-by market.

“Neighbors can walk or drive up, tell us what they like, and we pack it up for them,” says Katie who reports the garden distributed 350 pounds of produce to 70 customers in the first four weeks.

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In mid-April, the board hired Shelly Casto as executive director, and she quickly stepped in to assist the organization’s interim pivot from education programming to addressing the community’s basic needs. She focused on budget and fundraising needs to sustain staff salaries and teen interns. She helped guide outreach strategies for neighborhood engagement.  And, she made sure the organization was up to date on latest best practices for COVID-related safety.

“I am so proud to be part of such a smart, dedicated team at Highland Youth Garden,” says Shelly.  “It has been a rewarding first few months on the job, getting to know our neighbors, working with our inspiring volunteers and bonding with our savvy and caring staff.  I can’t think of a better way to support my community at this challenging time than doing this important work alongside all of them.”

While the team is eager to resume education programming, here’s a quick recap of all the ways the garden is addressing immediate community needs:


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  • Offering fresh food bags on Wednesdays and Saturdays beginning May 2

  • Dropping off lettuce plants and market fliers to 100 neighbors.

  • Safely growing crops for spring, summer and fall harvests

  • Hiring four local teens for spring and summer garden jobs

  • Filling mini library with free games, books and chalk

  • Connecting neighbors as garden volunteers

  • Offering online Container Gardening Workshop.

  • Launching Big Give drive to sustain funding, writing grants and securing PPE funds.

  • Distributed over 200 children’s garden activity kits to families.

  • Installing ten raised bed vegetable gardens at homes of student garden club members.

  • Reworking the native plant garden, herb garden and pollinator gardens.

  • Filled pockets throughout the garden with cut flowers to sell.

 

Teresa Woodard