Lynchburg Grows actively uses gardening to provide new resources to the Lynchburg community

With dirt in her nails and sweat beading down her neck, Shelley Blades works to bring change to the community of Lynchburg. 

One radish at a time. 

Just off Fort Avenue and Englewood Street, people can find nine greenhouses where Blades, farm manager and executive director of Lynchburg Grows, works alongside 10 other employees and numerous volunteers to grow produce year-round for Lynchburg. 

Blades has been a part of the Lynchburg Grows team for five years, overseeing farm operations in every greenhouse. Before moving to Lynchburg, Blades served as a garden coordinator for the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City. 

This urban farm began its journey in 2003 when Paul Lam and several volunteers looked to relocate a produce garden after his previous one was destroyed. Through this venture, they landed at the Old Schenkel Farm, which used to grow roses. The greenhouses were left abandoned and overgrown, but through hours of volunteering, they were transformed into fully functioning greenhouses.

Lynchburg Grows operates as an urban farm that seeks to provide affordable produce to the community and provide purposeful jobs to people with intellectual and physical disabilities. 

“We have 11 employees and eight of them have intellectual or physical disabilities,” Blades said. “Everyone has a purpose and can give back to the community, and we want to give them a space to learn, grow and be a part of the community.”

Along with providing jobs, the leadership of Lynchburg Grows desires to give Lynchburg residents easy access to healthy foods. Because of this mission, Lynchburg Grows works with St. John’s Episcopal Church to donate food to various homeless shelters and food banks in the Lynchburg area. The organization also sells their produce to various restaurants around Lynchburg. 

“Last year, we were able to provide 50,000 servings of produce to the Lynchburg community,” Blades said. 

Locals who want fresh produce can pay a monthly fee to be a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) member at Lynchburg Grows and have first pick of the weekly harvest. Lynchburg Grows also provides a program called FreshRx, which serves as a vegetable program prescribed by doctors to help people with dietary illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, heart problems and stroke. When people enter this program, they participate in seven nutrition and cooking classes taught by a nutrition specialist.

“We are able to track the progress of the people who are a part of the Fresh Rx program and see how it is helping them,” Blades said. 

Lynchburg Grows maintains operations of the farm using the profit they earn from CSA members, monetary donations given by donors, and fundraising events. They also depend on the work done by volunteers. According to their website, volunteers can serve during any of their regular volunteer hours, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday. 

Emma Jean VandenBrink discovered Lynchburg Grows while looking for a place to fulfill her community service hour requirements (CSER). After serving for two weeks, VandenBrink sought out a marketing internship with the organization.

“This internship allowed me to combine my love for communication and art with my love for plants and the environment,” VandenBrink said. 

VandenBrink said the people at Lynchburg Grows taught her about the farm operations by working in the greenhouses and assisting with the daily tasks. She also sent out emails to local schools informing them about Lynchburg Grows and field trip possibilities. 

“It is so important for young students to have hands-on experience, seeing what it’s like to watch a bean grow and knowing how to grow a garden,” VandenBrink said. 

When it comes to understanding gardening, Blades says there are many opportunities to see the food-growing process.

“Through working with Lynchburg Grows or something like it, you get to do something good to help the environment,” Blades said. 

VadenBrink says she learned from her internship with Lynchburg Grows that Lynchburg is a “food desert” with few opportunities for local produce, especially for people who are living in the city.

As Lynchburg Grows continues to expand its organization, Blades says they are able to make produce more accessible to the Lynchburg community.

“We would love to continue to grow and have more produce donated to the community,” Blades said.