Hy-Vee Builds Community Garden

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Hy-Vee helped create a community garden that provides free plots for those in need of food assistance.

The Amos Hiatt Community Garden, launched last month on a lot adjacent to the Hiatt Middle School in Des Moines, has 24 plots measuring 10 by 14 feet each.

The garden is located in a low-income neighborhood; every student at the middle school is eligible for the free lunch program and the student body has a comparatively high number of students from immigrant families, according to published reports. Families with students that attend the school can use a plot to grow fresh food.

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The students helped plant vegetables in some of the plots under the direction of Jerry Kluver, a Hy-Vee garden manager and star of a local gardening television show called “Hy-Vee Get Growing.” Kluver coached students about how to properly plant pumpkin, bean lettuce and radish seedlings.

Other sponsors include Lowe’s and Drake University Students in Free Enterprise, a service agency.