Fifth garden bed planted at Corner Cupboard
From left, Cora Engebreth, 10, of Lyon, France, and her younger brother, Leo Engebreth, 7, work with Brennan Baily, 5, of Spraggs, to plant vegetables in one of the raised garden beds at Corner Cupboard Food Bank in Franklin Township.
Members of the Waynesburg Rotary Club sponsored and planted last week one of the five raised garden beds at Corner Cupboard Food Bank in Franklin Township.
WAYNESBURG – Corner Cupboard Food Bank’s fifth raised vegetable garden bed was sponsored and planted last week by the Waynesburg Rotary Club.
“Our big focus is hunger, and this is helping hunger locally,” said Rob Baily, president of the Rotary Club.
Baily said the club sponsored the building of the bed, seed and soil.
“This is a way for people to help, and they can grow food organically, which is a healthier option than the boxed food,” Baily said.
The garden bed, which is on the side of the food bank’s warehouse on Rolling Meadows Road in Franklin Township, is one of five 8-foot-by-4-foot raised beds at the food bank that are used for growing produce. Most of the work to build the beds was done last August by Waynesburg University students, who also built a fenced enclosure for the garden.
The beds contain tomatoes, cucumber, eggplant, onion, kale and other vegetables, but nothing is ready to harvest yet, said Candace Tustin, executive director of the food bank.
Tustin expressed gratitude to the Rotary Club for its sponsorship. She said the two organizations have partnered on projects in the past.
“They’ve come out many times before, and we’re very thankful for that,” Tustin said.
She said that not only will the garden be a great resource in feeding the hungry, but “it’s also really encouraging community support.”
She said the garden is meant to attract people from across the county to help plant and seed the garden and pick the crops. So far, they’ve already had Wayne Lumber donate materials for the garden, and they received a grant from Nobel Energy for the project.
Also, inmates at the Greene County jail are expected to help water and weed the garden during work-release programs. Penn State Extension has offered to advise what to plant, and church groups also have volunteered to help.
“The garden is a wonderful addition,” Tustin said.