Grow Ogden rings in growing season with new trainees, Earth Day event
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- Eden Streets’ Grow Ogden community farm, located near downtown Ogden, photographed Monday, April 21, 2025.
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- Eden Streets Director Karl Ebeling and Community Engagement Coordinator Gina Nielsen at the Grow Ogden farm Monday, April 21, 2025.
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- Eden Streets’ Grow Ogden community farm, located near downtown Ogden, photographed Monday, April 21, 2025.
OGDEN — With the arrival of spring and the return of the growing season, Grow Ogden — a local community farm and transitional employment program — is once again buzzing with activity.
The plot, located near First Presbyterian Church at 880 E. 28th St., was established as the pilot farm for Eden Streets, a nonprofit serving marginalized populations, including those facing homelessness, by providing job training, case management and support for enrollees, as well as fresh produce for those in need.
“Last year, we produced 1,024 pounds of produce — even out of this small area — that was donated to Catholic Community Services,” Eden Streets Executive Director Karl Ebeling, nicknamed “Farmer Karl,” told the Standard-Examiner.
Grow Ogden has also received certification as a wildlife habitat from the National Wildlife Federation and was designated a Habitat Hero Garden by the National Audubon Society.
As volunteers, staff and those enrolled in the spring program gear up for several weeks of hands, shovels and seeds in dirt, Eden Streets will welcome in the community for its second annual Earth Day Celebration. The event will take place Saturday beginning at 4 p.m.
Weber State University Sustainability Programs Director Alice Mulder, Utah Rep. Jill Koford, R-Ogden, and Ben Tecumseh DeSoto will be among those on hand to give remarks. The event will also feature interactive activities for children and adults hosted by local organizations, poetry and live music, baby chicks courtesy of the Weber High School FFA, yoga and more.
Launched in 2023, Grow Ogden welcomed its first three trainees last year, two of which went on to graduate from the 16-week program. This year, Ebeling says the hope is to employ six people for 11 hours per week, with the aim of fostering the development of work and life skills, reintroducing them to the workforce and reconnecting with the earth.
“The distinguishing aspect of our program is it’s work-based,” Ebeling said. “You can go sit with a counselor for a while and they can tell you, ‘You should do this,’ and ‘You should do that.’ But experiencing it, doing the work and seeing meaningful work produce results is so satisfying, especially if you can eat what you’ve grown.
“You don’t need to have five caseworkers working with you. You have one person at the farm who’s your caseworker that handles all the confidentials. But you, as a team, this family, creating beauty and food together and suddenly life comes into proper perspective — that’s transforming and powerful.”
That transformative experience extends well beyond the trainees, too. According to Ebeling, some 240 volunteers donated roughly 500 hours of work to the farm in 2024. Those numbers could grow moving forward as Eden Streets works toward utilizing more of the church property for farming.
First Presbyterian Church pastor Jon Draskovic has witnessed the evolution of Grow Ogden firsthand and is excited about the future.
“This little space back here, before Grow Ogden came in, it was just a total disaster. I mean, it was overgrown and unused,” Draskovic said of the plot. “Since Grow Ogden came in, it has been a transformative experience and we’re hoping to expand it to other parts here. Like in the Genesis 1 creation story, it’s God ordering chaos. Then your job is to till it and steward it and make it grow, and that is literally what has happened.”
The church previously provided a grant for Grow Ogden’s greenhouse. Now, the organizations are teaming up for the addition of 35 garden boxes onto the expanded plot. Grow Ogden has also benefited from partnerships with Weber State University and Ogden-Weber Technical College.
For more information, go to https://www.edenstreets.org/growogdenfarm/.
