Steubenville’s Urban Mission Ministries purchased 2 1/2-acre “green space” behind it — the potential for urban gardening
It has been the mission’s intent to develop the space into an urban farming area that would grow healthy food for the mission’s pantry
By Janice Kiaski
Weirton Daily Times
MAy 18, 2021
Excerpt:
STEUBENVILLE — When Urban Mission Ministries purchased the Seventh Street plaza at North and Seventh streets in downtown Steubenville, it came with an estimated 2 1/2-acre “green space” behind it — the potential for urban gardening.
That vision as a community backyard food garden project will be cast during a meeting Thursday beginning at 7 p.m. at the plaza. It is open to anybody interested in urban gardening and supporting the work of it, according to the Rev. Ashley Steele, the mission’s executive director.
Steele defined urban gardening as ” just your backyard, using what you have to produce good things, and I think the reality is that we are in a space that typically you don’t garden in, you wouldn’t see that many, but we want to make sure that people know that you still can do that in even a downtown area.”
It has been the mission’s intent to develop the space into an urban farming area that would grow healthy food for the mission’s pantry but also teach others how to grow food in space they have or as container gardening, according to Steele.
“We knew that we didn’t have enough people, resources and expertise to actually just do that on our own, so we knew we needed other people to come alongside and help us,” she said, noting Thursday’s meeting will include the involvement of Toronto-area farmers Shawn and Beth Dougherty, whom she said have an interest to do sustainable agriculture.
