Raised bed gardens are seen at the North Alabama Agriplex on Thursday, April 2, 2020.

The North Alabama Agriplex, a local non-profit dedicated to educating and promoting Alabama’s agriculture and future sustainability, announced they will be awarding 30 lower income families with free raised garden beds plus ongoing gardening education and tools of the trade in early 2021. 

Moving forward after their successful USDA food box pickup services partnered between local farmers, Agriplex and several food bank agencies, Agriplex Homegrown Hope Director Julie Kelly said, “This first launch for Homegrown Hope is exciting for us, who knows, maybe next year we can provide two or three times as many garden beds and plants in more locations!”

COVID 19 has forced many businesses, non-profits and other agencies to rethink and develop new ways to accomplish their goals. The Agriplex is stretching out in new directions to keep serving and educating Alabamians from a safe distance. To accomplish this new endeavor, the Agriplex is partnering with Alabama’s Mountains, Rivers and Valleys RC & D Council, Cullman County Extension Office and Alabama Master Gardeners.