PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — The corn is three times their size, the peppers are bigger than their hands and some of the names of the veggies, they still struggle to pronounce.
Yet, when they find their perfect harvest, their eyes grow big and their smiles even bigger. Carrying out a basket of produce half their weight is a victory.
They are the youngest members or the Young Sprouts of “Watch Me Grow,” an organization Amanda Lewis helped found three years ago to promote sustainability, provide positive youth programming and fight food insecurity.
The Young Sprouts spend two hours in the garden once a week.
Lewis grew up across the Ohio River on a farm in Greenup County, Kentucky, where she fell in love with gardening, healthy living and the environment around her. When she started Watch Me Grow with two of her friends she hoped to pass along that passion to anyone hungry to learn.
“It’s a really amazing feeling,” she said.
Lewis started with the Young Growers Program to teach kids 8 and up to plant a garden, tend to it and harvest the food once it’s ready. The program took a year off due to the pandemic, then when it returned this spring, she added the Young Sprouts to help the program grow.
“We have so many little kids that are enthusiastic about getting in the garden,” she said.
Most of the young kids stay in the garden, but Lewis takes the older ones to the Portsmouth Farmer’s Market once a week to sell most of what they’ve grown.
“All of the proceeds that we make from these sales go back to support youth programming,” she said.
Lewis works with Young Growers to sell produce
As the kids staff the stand, Lewis gives them the chance to learn basic job skills, socialize with members of the Portsmouth community and help them keep up their math skills through the summer.
“We’ve got two cases of potatoes so two dollars each and we’ve got two so how many is that?” she asked the two girls manning the stand Saturday afternoon.
Watch Me Grow serves dozens of kids across Scioto County, many considered at-risk and some food insecure. According to Feeding America, Scioto County has the highest food insecurity rate in Ohio, with one in four children wondering where their next meal might come from.
Lewis said the program offers a few ways to help, allowing growers to take home some of their produce while teaching them about healthy eating and encouraging them to get gardens like this growing in their own yards.
“And once we start producing more from the garden, we’re partnering with a couple of local food pantries to be able to help feed people in Portsmouth,” she said.
Besides produce, Lewis said the most important thing growing in her garden is confidence. They get to see first-hand how their hard work pays off and the importance of responsibility.
“A lot of the kids that came to us were like really shy and backwards and unsure of themselves and by the end of the program they’re going to the farmer’s market and talking to people,” she said. “They’re helping other vendors.”
In its three years, the program and its Fellowship Garden have been growing as well. For the first time, it’s expanded to serve communities outside of Scioto County, with a program starting in Ironton.
Over the next few years, Lewis hopes to continue to serve more communities across Southern Ohio, ensuring not just her passion for gardening, but access to fresh, healthy food continues to grow throughout the region.
