So she’s hoping when Ironton’s new community garden gets started next spring, she’ll be able to share some of her expertise with novice gardeners who might have more enthusiasm than experience.

“I would be glad to help some younger person,” Logsdon said.

Logsdon was among those who came out to Sunday’s ribbon cutting and blessing of the garden, a collaborative effort with Ironton in Bloom, Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital’s Healthy Community Initiative and the Ironton Port Authority.

In April the garden, on a vacant corner lot at Seventh and Adams streets, will be divided into individual raised beds available to gardeners who want to put out flowers or vegetables but don’t have their own backyard to do so. The land is owned by OLBH that purchased it for $14,500 with funds from Bon Secours Health System mission funds.

There will be an initial fee to cover the cost of water that will be provided on site and gardeners will be asked to sign a contract saying they will maintain their plot through the planting season and make it ready for next year’s planting.

“This is awesome,” the Rev. James Stowe, pastor at Quinn Chapel Church, said before the ribbon cutting. “Anytime you can create inspiration with the community, it is awesome. To have a common space where the community comes together to see the benefits of their efforts.”

Quinn Chapel will be a neighbor to the community garden that is in the heart of an area of single-family homes and apartment complexes.

Before members of the OLBH, Ironton in Bloom and the port authority cut the ribbon, Father David Huffman of the Ironton Catholic churches walked the perimeter of the property sprinkling it with holy water.

IIB president Carol Allen was pleased with the turnout for the afternoon event.

“People can now see how the community can come together with a common interest,” she said.

Starting at the first of the year IIB will have informational meetings explaining the concept of the garden with the individual plots distributed by early March.

“It is wonderful the hospital is investing resources in a place where the community can come together to form another smaller community,” the Rev. Sallie Schisler, priest at Christ Episcopal Church, said. “It is a great partnership between Ironton in Bloom and the hospital. Gardens are special. That is where God intended us to live.”