Soil³ Story: The Raised Bed Teaching Garden at Augusta Locally Grown

I visited Augusta Locally Grown to see their beautiful raised beds and hear about their productive organic teaching garden at their new HUB for Community Innovation in Augusta, Georgia. I left feeling deeply inspired.

Rebecca van Loenen, executive director of Augusta Locally Grown (ALG), described the organization's growth over the last 15 years. It began as a small, online market store where customers could purchase fresh produce and products from local women-owned farms.

Don't miss our video featuring ALG's raised bed gardens.

In their new home at the gorgeous HUB West building, ALG has been able to expand its services with its Food HUB. They host an indoor, year-round farmers market and offer a variety of classes about sustainable growing practices, nutrition, and healthier eating.

Augusta Locally Grown Food HUB

The ALG “Food HUB” includes their office space, a wonderful classroom, and a fully equipped, state-of-the-art commercial kitchen.

Their teaching garden and greenhouse are just outside the classroom door. Beautiful raised beds, filled with Soil³ Veggie Mix line the garden.

The fantastic indoor hall is a great event space and allows them to hold year-round, weather-protected farmers markets. The online market also continues with multiple pickup locations including the community HUB.

Raised Beds Filled with Soil³

Rebecca and ALG Farmer Services Manager, Coy Hancock explained why the raised beds filled with Soil³ Veggie Mix are so important in their community.

The Harrisburg and Laney Walker communities are located on land that was an old mill village. These areas have high levels of soil toxicity. Lead and mercury are 100 to 300 times higher than the acceptable amount. Childhood cancer rates are some of the highest in the state.

To combat this, ALG teaches people how to grow safely above ground in raised beds, without any harmful pesticides. The ALG raised beds are about 2 feet high and filled with Soil³. They teach members of the community that this is easy to do - even in their own backyards. One of the things that Coy stresses most in his classes is that you need to start with good soil, he noted that after planting in Soil³, the results in their fall garden are the best he’s ever seen.

Classes for Farmers and the Community

Coy teaches inside in the classroom and kitchen, and outside in the greenhouse and garden. Gardening and farming classes, cooking and nutrition, and food safety classes are offered to farmers and citizens.

Farmers who sell in ALG Farmers Markets must grow sustainably. Coy guides them through the certification process to become Naturally Grown and Organic. In addition, ALG provides classes and coaching to help farmers plan, sell, and preserve their crops, including ways to create value-added products in the commercial kitchen.

Coy also teaches beginning gardening classes. Students learn to start seeds in the greenhouse and move transplants out to the raised beds. He always stresses the importance of starting with good soil.

Coy Hancock, Augusta Locally Grown, Farmer Services Manager loves the convenience of Soil³ deliveries.

Collaboration to Bolster Their Community

The concept and development of the community HUB is truly inspiring.

Nearly four years ago, ALG got together with the Community Foundation (for the Central Savannah River Area), the MCG Foundation (Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University), and the Boys and Girls Club to figure out how they could work together to fight food insecurity in the communities where they had been serving for many years. They developed a grand plan to bring several nonprofits together under one roof.

The community HUB mission was to pursue innovative, collaborative solutions that bolster equitable access to all the essential elements of a thriving community including mixed-income housing, a variety of healthy food sources, quality healthcare, and educational support. With several corporate sponsorships, construction soon began.

The gorgeous, 3300-square-foot community HUB West building opened in 2022. Four nonprofits moved in under one roof including Augusta Locally Grown, Augusta University Literacy Center, Harrisburg Family Health Care, a free and charitable health clinic, and RISE Augusta, a dropout prevention program. Across the street, a second building, known as community HUB East, became the new headquarters for the Boys & Girls Club of the Central Savanah River Area (CSRA). 

The HUB campus was brimming with energy, possibilities, and lots of smiles. As I drove away, I couldn’t help thinking that every city should have a space like the community HUB in Augusta.

Video and photography by Laurie and Simon Wakefield.