Brittney Eaton began a community garden behind the Our House homeless shelter in Fulton in April. Since then, there has been been a lot of growth and not just with the plants on one lot.
"We've already had stuff - quite a bit of food has already been shared. Some people come and got food," Eaton said. "At this point, we're starting to get a lot of harvest."
Eaton contacted Rana Bains, president of Bluebird Composting LLC, who donated super raised-bed mix potting soil for the project. Eaton has been able to do a lot more work with his help.
"He asked me if I wanted to grow food in a greenhouse space on his farm," she said. "I grow a little bit of different stuff and a lot of the same stuff. It's just food I share with the community. I share stuff with the YMCA, I bring it here to the homeless shelter, I take it home and I give it to my friends and neighbors."
Bains said he feels it's important to share his resources.
"It's important to do this because it's sustainable, and I believe in sustainability," Bains said. "I have 40 acres, and I'm not using all of that, so someone should use it."
Since that initial encounter, Eaton has been working as an intern with Bluebird. She's been giving a lot of food to the homeless shelter and claims other people have been taking notice.
"People are getting out in the community, and some people are helping; I think it's enriched their lives as well," she said. "It's feeding people or else they won't have access to organic, healthy food."
Eaton thinks recent health trends and overall awareness have helped this project succeed.
"I think people are realizing that eating healthy is so important and that sustainability is important," she said. "The compost that's in there is recycled food waste."
Eaton thinks working with the garden is a great learning experience, and she and Bluebird are looking into grants for educational programs for the community.
"People will come out here often. My kids like bring their friends, and one kid was like, 'I thought carrots came from a bag from Walmart,'" she said. "So it's bringing change in some way."
Eaton said her kids love being around the garden and are enthusiastic.
"My daughter will come out here, and she will stuff her face like a chipmunk with cherry tomatoes," she said. "When I come home, she'll go, 'Oh! Did you bring me to-ma-toes?' It's so cute."
Aside from the community and family involvement, Brad Sheppard, executive director of the shelter, thinks the garden has been great for those staying at the shelter.
"It's definitely been a plus," Sheppard said. "Some of our guests have become volunteers. It gives them a project to work on, and they've been using some of the produce for themselves."
Sheppard has seen a number of benefits since the garden started in April.
"For our families who prepare their own meals, it gives them access to vegetables," he said. "One of the older gentlemen here has been a lot more active because he has been out in the garden. Those are the type of things we were hoping for when it started."
Eaton is looking to do more with the plants as the year goes on. She's planning on hosting a cooking class with the food she's grown.
"This fall, we are going to be doing a crock pot cooking class with Patchwork Farms," Eaton said. "We're trying to find a venue to do a fundraiser. This crock pot cooking class will come from food from this garden. Our goal is to get 50 crock pots and whatever is left over, we will keep here at the shelter. We are also putting together a cook book. So when people leave here, they'll have a cookbook and a crock pot."
Eaton said she is looking for more volunteers for the garden. For more information, email [email protected].