A community garden project is giving residents space to grow fruits and vegetables while at the same time help feed the needy.

Area volunteers have partnered with Food Bank of the Albemarle in a community-based initiative called "Project Grow." The project's goal is to feed the needy by allowing residents the opportunity and space to grow fruits and vegetables.

Brett A. Clark/The Daily Advance (ENLARGE)

Robin Kelly-Goss, who organized the community garden initiative, performs some landscaping work Saturday.

Brett A. Clark/The Daily Advance (ENLARGE)

Volunteers Sophie Clarkson (left), 4, Bonnie Calliott and Joey Clarkson work Saturday at a new community garden at Food Bank of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City.

As part of the project, a "community garden" has begun in lot at the Salvation Army at Fourth and Ward streets. Also, a grassy area in front of the Food Bank on Tidewater Way is being transformed into a "demonstration garden." There, residents will be taught how to cultivate fruit and vegetable gardens.

"We'll be trying out different ways of growing," said Robin Kelly-Goss, a founder of the initiative. "We also have a children's demonstration garden."

The garden will serve as an exhibition and teaching garden, and provide a source of fresh, organic produce for the needy, she said.

Kelly-Goss said the garden also would showcase different growing methods, such as space-intensive, hydroponics and container gardening.

To illustrate how participants do not need much space to grow food, vegetables are being grown in 5-pound buckets and bags of topsoil.

"One of the goals is to show people different ways of growing, to think outside the traditional need for acres of land to grow any food," Kelly-Goss said.

A section of the Food Bank's garden also is being set aside for the public to grow fruits and vegetables. And some of what is grown will be distributed to the needy by the Food Bank's pantry.

On Saturday, volunteers were tilling the soil at the Food Bank garden, laying down mulch, topsoil, manure and coffee to make the soil more fertile.

Kelly-Goss said Project Grow offers something for everyone.

"If people don't want to grow, they can come and get vegetables (to eat)," she said.

She said classes will be offered on composting, food dehydration and canning. The goal is to teach people how to prepare what they grow.

The initiative also has gotten the support of J.C. Sawyer Elementary School, which has agreed to have the first school garden. Kelly-Goss noted that this would begin as small, square-foot gardens, focusing on fast-growing, brightly colored and unusual vegetables to intrigue children to try new vegetables.

Liz Reasoner, the executive director of Food Bank of the Albemarle, said vegetables and fruits that are typically grown in northeastern North Carolina will be grown at the garden. They include peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, blueberries and melons, as well as different types of herbs.

Reasoner said the garden will serve multiple purposes.

"It will educate and engage the community at all levels," she said. "It's an opportunity to alleviate the issue of surrounding hunger. The community garden is a great tool, and a focal point for people to come together."

Project Grow is a tax-exempt 501c-3 non-profit, which means donations are tax deductible.