About Ranson Gardens
Mission Statement
​
Ranson Community Garden's mission is to provide training, support, and gardening resources to the communities of Jefferson and Berkeley Counties while offering a safe, relaxing green space to gather together.
Our Story
How Ranson Gardens Got Started
During February of 2013, a master gardener (Judy) and an ecologist-gardener (Bill), and a few others from the Baha’i community, were helping provide wintertime Sunday meals at Jefferson County Community Ministry (JCCM) for homeless neighbors. The ecologist-gardener brought some seedlings to transplant into flats, hoping to enlist a few clients as helpers.
This activity inspired the vision of establishing a community garden to provide healthful produce for food insecure neighbors through JCCM’s food pantry. JCCM, Judy and the Dave Hamill, the Mayor of Ranson moved the idea forward.
Ranson licensed a city right-of-way next to the Baha’i Center to JCCM for the garden. With the help of a small grant from the Pollination Project, the two gardener entrepreneurs began building the garden. Help came from all around, including JCCM, friends and supporters, the WVU extension service and master gardeners, the adjacent property owner (also a gardener), and various service organizations.
Seeing the Ranson, WV project as a good example of a “green” sustainable development partnership, the Baha’i national media center prepared a video on the project (shown below).
Ranson Community Gardens (formerly Ranson Old Town Community Gardens) continues to expand. We’ve added more gardens and facilities, are doing educational presentations in schools, and are taking on bigger projects like the Eagle Scout project and high tunnels.
In 2014 the Gardens became an independent non-profit WV Voluntary Association a federally tax exempt organization.
Take some time to watch the video about how Ranson Gardens got started.
Growing a Community Through Gardening​
​
Founder, Bill Gregg, worked tirelessly to grow and expand the gardens to bring healthy produce to area residents. Bill moved to South Carolina in 2020. He and his notorious hat are missed.​
​In this retrospective, “Planting Seeds, Growing Community,” Bill and Jay Good presented his vision at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Toronto, Canada. One goal was to inspire other faith communities to take up the challenges of beautification and growing fresh produce in their own communities. It covers the period from 2007-2018.
