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Growing Food, Growing Communities

GardenIn the summer of 2018 Master Gardner's helped plant gardens at the Hancock County Hope House. These gardens are maintained by residents there to show them how easy and affordable it is to grown your own vegetables and herbs. The food is used by the residents and for lessons offered at the Hope House by the Nutrition Education Program Assistant, Mandy Gray

Vernon Township Trustees and Gloria Del Greco, Community Wellness Coordinator with Purdue Extension Hancock County, worked together to develop a community garden in Fortville with the help of a grant from the Nutrition Education Program. Approximately 30 volunteers, many which were Master Gardeners, volunteered 550 hours to help maintain the garden plots. Over 520 lbs of produce was donated to the food pantry through a variety of plots in the garden.

Hancock County Extension Master Gardeners have a variety of demonstration gardens at the Extension Office.  One very special plot is dedicated to June-bearing strawberries that bear beautiful, delicious red and juicy strawberries.  When these berries ripen, the Master Gardeners take the special bounty to the Kenneth Butler Soup Kitchen where anyone in the community can go to get a nice meal.  Jill Ebbert and the people who work at the kitchen love the strawberries so much that they make sure to bake shortcakes to have with them when they are fresh from the garden.  This is just one of the many ways that our Extension Master Gardeners helps grow food and community at the same time.

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