Young Farmers build garden for homeless shelter
By Laura Ruby
Young farmers from Fauquier, Prince William, Loudoun, and Stafford counties came together Saturday to build a raised bed garden for The Haven, an emergency shelter for the homeless, in Warrenton.“It looks wonderful. It really looks great," exclaimed shelter coordinator Sue Smith about the new garden space.
Five members of the Virginia Farm Bureau Young Farmer's group put in about three hours on the project Saturday afternoon, said Jay and Sonja Yankey, Prince William County farmers who helped organize the work day.
Though the Yankeys have been active in the Young Farmer group for about five years, most of their work has been done on the state level, the couple said.
The farmers installed a pair of four foot by eight foot raised beds and planted traditional summer vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash and green beans. They even put in a pumpkin plant, Sonja Yankey said.
“It was Erik's [Croushorn] idea to do a service project to get people to come out and do something for the community. He's been the one that really spoke up about that," Sonja Yankey said.
For more information on the project, pick up a copy of this weeks' Fauquier Times-Democrat Weekend Edition.