Watch Me Grow Ohio starting a community garden in Ironton

A new program will help teach Ironton kids how to have a green thumb with the Ironton Community Garden.

Antonio Murphy is one of the organizers of the Watch Me Grow Ohio program that is being done in conjunction with King’s Daughters Medical Center. He got the idea from his cousin who runs the same program in Portsmouth.

“We are going to be teaching the kids agriculture and entrepreneurship,” he said, adding it is for any kids ages 8 and up that are interested. The garden will be start noon– 3 p.m. this Saturday at 501 S. Seventh St. in Ironton. “We want to really focus on teaching the kids that are coming up to teach them how to take care of the plants.”

They will start with seeds and seedlings and the kids will take care of the plants every Saturday until it is harvest time.

He said they will learn patience since people are used to getting everything fast and plants take a long time to grow.

“We want to teach them something they can take on for life and take back to their families and friends,” Murphy said. “Maybe one or two will like it and be able to start a business out of it and feed a lot of people.”

He said their partner KDMC will be providing the seeds and the tools for the garden.

“It is really nice of them,” Murphy said. “We are going to have all sorts of plants.”

Another partner is American Legion Post 433.

“I’m a member there, along with my brother, Pete Carter. And we got with Joey Zornes, who does the Fun Fridays at the playground and he has the kids there,” Murphy said. “Pete and I were trying to find a way to help the community this summer.”

He said they have a basketball tournament, but that is only a couple days long and they wanted something to fill up the whole summer.

“And some of the kids just like to talk to people and this is more than just planting a seed. You’re going to talk to kids, laughing with them and being there for them,” Murphy said, adding that kids should wear clothes that they can get dirty in and there is no need to bring tools. “They just need to bring a good attitude and be ready to learn and plant seeds. It will be good day on Saturday.”

Registration will be held at the playground at Ninth and Madison streets on Friday at 6 p.m. and parents are asked to help register their children.