For several hours a day, six days a week, you will find youth residents of the Marsh Foundation tending to annuals, cacti and everything in between.
"Everything gets watered once or twice a day just depending on what the need is. We have some small plants now that we're separating out the seedlings. We grow them in a big bunch and then separate them into individual plants in different plots," Michele Bird, assistant activities coordinator with Marsh Foundation, said.
The greenhouse and garden gives those kids the chance to nurture the plants and see what positive things bloom, from a little hard work.
"Kids and the staff both put in a lot of work in the garden, and it's a real important and crucial part of our overall programming here," Dawn Berryman, the Marsh Foundation marketing/PR specialist, said.
And each week they take take a trip to the farmer's market to sell fresh produce from their garden.
"Try to have some income there for them, learning some marketing tools, interacting with society and customers," Bird said.
So they say, while the students are caring for the various greens, the plants are not the only ones able to grow.
"I think it really helps them to become stronger adults," Bird said.
This unique garden was just one of many showcased as part of the annual Peony Festival in Van Wert.
"We have a lot of very talented gardeners in this area, and they put a lot of time and effort into these gardens and it's nice to be able to showcase these beautiful gems," Zoe Longstreth, Peony Festival Committee president, said.
