The Webster County Growing Together Donation Garden in Fort Dodge produces hundreds of pounds of fresh, nutritious produce each year to be given to The Lord’s Cupboard food pantry, the Salvation Army and the Holy Trinity Parish food pantry.

The garden, located at Fourth Avenue South and Seventh Street, is a product of the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Master Gardeners program. The Growing Together program was started in 2016 and provides communities with mini grants to build and sustain these gardens across the state.

The Fort Dodge garden was started in 2019. The city of Fort Dodge donated an old city-owned garden that had fallen into disrepair and provided free water and mulch to the project.

According to the ISU Extension and Outreach office, one in eight Iowans is food insecure, which means they do not have access to sufficient food to make up a healthy diet. The donation garden project is designed to increase access to fruits and vegetables as well as provide nutrition and gardening education to individuals who are food insecure.

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By the end of the 2019 growing season, the Growing Together Donation Garden produced more than 140 pounds of vegetables that were donated to the local Lord’s Cupboard food pantry and Salvation Army kitchen.

Last year, the Fort Dodge garden donated nearly 1,000 pounds of fresh produce to the local food pantries, according to Master Gardener and garden organizer Doug Brightman.

“We’re meeting an important need of our community,” Brightman said. “And fresh produce, locally grown, is more nutritious than produce than what’s shipped in.”

Melanie Fierke, director of The Lord’s Cupboard in Fort Dodge, said the food pantry is grateful for the work the gardeners do each year.

“We are very lucky to have a partnership with them and receive something that a lot of clients cannot purchase for themselves,” she said. “So to be able to come in and choose fresh produce from someone’s garden is actually a blessing.”

Brightman is joined by six Master Gardeners and eight community volunteers to plant, tend to and harvest the fruits and vegetables each year. Last year, the St. Paul Lutheran Church youth group also volunteered.

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Donation garden volunteers Jeff Becker, Laura Ludgate, Doug Brightman and William Ringwald pose with freshly-picked produce at the donation garden in September 2019.

The garden will begin its fifth growing season this spring. Between the 2019 and 2022 growing seasons, the garden has produced just over a ton of fruits and vegetables.

On Monday, Extension and Outreach’s Agriculture and Natural Resources awarded mini-grants for gardens in 30 counties. The $2,189 grant received by the Webster County garden will help add more raised beds to the garden.

Brightman said the Master Gardeners are grateful for their community partners for helping make this garden a success. Local businesses and organizations have helped by donating supplies and providing discounted services. The Donation Garden’s community partners are: the city of Fort Dodge, Beisser Lumber Co., Becker Florist & Garden Center, Menards and ISU Webster County Extension and Outreach.

Last year, the local philanthropic organization 100 Women Who Care donated $700 to build a new garden shed, Brightman said.

Other area counties receiving grants include:

• Calhoun County: Expand a wheelchair-accessible garden on-site at Opportunity Living with four additional raised garden beds that clients will plant and harvest. Produce will be donated to local food pantries.

• Wright: Expand donation gardens in Clarion and Rowan with the help of food pantry clients, 4-H’ers, Clover Kids, elementary students and Master Gardeners. Food pantry clients will be encouraged to participate in five educational workshops and demonstrations, including container gardening and nutrition education.