Charleston, WV – The West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) is pleased to announce an ‘Intro to Gardening’ class for beginner to intermediate gardeners.

The class is set for May 19, 9 a.m. at the Gus R. Douglass Agriculture Center, 217 Gus R. Douglass Lane, Charleston, WV 25312. Kanawha County native and master gardener Martha Ferrell will instruct the class which is open to the public and free to attend.

“Historically, agriculture has always been small family-run operations. Only in the last few decades, have we seen the rise of the big commercial farms that we know today,” said Agriculture Commissioner Kent Leonhardt. “The demand for fresh, local produce is growing every day, especially within the localvore movement, and we want to assist people in learning the process of growing their own food.”

The class will cover soil preparation, growing and transplanting seedlings and maintaining the garden till harvest. During the class, attendants will be given seedlings to start and then take home and transplant later.

“This class will serve as a trial for community-run gardening classes in the future. Our hope is that we will garner enough interest from other parts of the state, so we can organize similar classes regionally,” stated WVDA project coordinator Taylor Ferrell. “With our goal being to boost the amount of agriculture in our state, we believe small projects like this will provide a gateway for people to contribute to that goal.”

Ferrell has been a certified master gardener for the past seven years, but has been gardening since she was 23 years old. She specializes in vegetables and flower gardens, but has experience in canning as well. She has two sons who served in the United States Army and is a volunteer in the WVDA Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture program.

If you are interested in attending or want to learn more about this project, please contact Taylor Ferrell tferrell@wvda.us (304-357-5121).