New Roots Youth Garden Digging Into Grant

SunflowersThe New Roots Youth Garden in Cape Charles has been awarded $750 in the Beautification and Community Greening Category of Keep Virginia Beautiful’s 30 in 30 Grants.  The KVB grant program focuses greater resources and attention on organizations and individual localities throughout the Commonwealth and how they are addressing the issues of litter prevention, recycling, waste reduction, beautification and education.

New Roots Youth Garden, Inc. represents community pride and commitment to beautifying our town and developing our youth.  New Roots, Inc. was established in the fall of 2011 through a partnership among the New Roots Youth Garden Committee, Town of Cape Charles, Cape Charles Rotary Club, and many other individuals and organizations. The Town of Cape Charles provided free use of a one-half acre lot for the establishment of the garden. Volunteers have cleared the space of debris, constructed five of the nine planned raised beds, and have two beds now producing edibles. They have built a tool shed, obtained electricity and established a dedicated water line. With this grant, the garden plans to install an herb garden and a butterfly garden with shrubs and perennials, including drip irrigation. New Roots Youth Garden is really the key in the beautification of Cape Charles. With its history as one of the earliest colonized areas in North America, the entire Eastern Shore is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers. Cape Charles is the largest small town on the southern end of the shore and the only one with direct access to the Chesapeake Bay. The New Roots Youth Garden Committee has stepped up with enthusiasm and expertise to take one small, but highly significant, step forward toward reclaiming some of the grandeur that existed in the once booming seaside town of Cape Charles.New Roots