Less than a month after planting, the Grow Food, Grow Hope community gardens project at Wilmington College is already producing vegetables for the dinner table.

The local families that have been tending their garden plots since early May harvested onions, radishes and lettuce Tuesday evening as they got together for their weekly gathering with volunteers and gardening experts. While a thunderstorm cut short the time for weeding, most filled bags with the fruit — or rather vegetables — of their labor before the heavy rain hit.

The group will return June 9 to plant addition vegetables, harvest ripe crops and tend to their gardens - all in the spirit of working together in community.

Grow Food, Grow Hope is a community gardens project initiated by Wilmington College for Wilmington and Clinton County. The goal of the project is to use local agricultural resources to address community needs resulting from the current economic crisis.

Its central purpose is to increase the capacity of our citizens to provide food for their families. Toward that end, the Community Gardens Project will create a network of community food producers who can supply food to those in need and to local markets.

The college has received more than $159,000 in federal stimulus funds from the AmeriCorps VISTA program to support nine new VISTA volunteers who will work with a coalition of community leaders to pursue two primary objectives: to generate a renewed interest in small plot and backyard gardening through education and community outreach and to improve access of all community members to adequate, affordable and nutritious food.

The centerpiece of the project is a series of 20 4-by-12 foot small plot gardens on college land. The purpose of the gardens is to teach pre-selected families and individuals how to grow their own vegetables and supplement their food needs. Seeds, seedlings, tools and assistance are provided.

The number of gardens will be expanded to 40 next year.

Other components of the project include producing vegetables on college farmland for donation to local food pantries, working with community leaders to start a year around farmers market, working with Sugartree Market Ministry, promoting backyard gardening and an edible landscaping project around public buildings, creating a growers co-op, supporting the Clinton County “Buy Local” campaign, offering youth outreach activities, and conducting an experimental project based on the concept of community supported agriculture.