URBAN FARMS

18th and Wood Street, Wheeling

Farm 18 is an urban mini-farm. Occupying a once-forgotten demolition site, Farm 18 produces an abundance of organically grown vegetables, herbs, and flowers right in the heart of East Wheeling.

This is where Grow Ohio Valley started, as a youth gardening club in East Wheeling. The foundational work of transforming disused urban brownspace into a healthy garden is a living symbol of Grow Ohio Valley’s mission. The work starts by making soil, by providing the conditions for life to flourish.

At Farm 18 we nourish the soil through no-till farming. No-till farming relies on one magic word: mulch! This method mimics natural environments by always covering bare soil with organic material (leaves, grass clippings, straw…you name it). This mulch creates a dark, moist soil environment, much like would be found on the forest floor. Earthworms, insects, and fungi thrive under the mulch and do the work for you: they loosen and “till” the soil! Meanwhile, that mulch suppresses weeds and helps hold in moisture, significantly reducing labor for the gardener. After several years of fastidious mulching, Farm 18 boasts a rich soil, full of life, and surprising productivity.

GrowOV has greatly expanded, but the history and life of Farm18 remains a motivating vision. We’re bringing our community together to transform our environment and transform our lives. We’re building good soil where once nothing could grow.

14th and Wood Street, Wheeling

What do you get when you combine a group of earnest gardeners, an irascible old boat-builder, and an irrepressibly idealistic college kid? - One of the most unique and exceptional greenhouses on planet Earth.

Combining elements of geothermal, solar collection, thermal banking, groundwater retention, and underground heat exchange, this greenhouse uses the whole lexicon of sustainability in its design and operation.

First conceived by Mike Mitchell, veteran home designer and boatbuilder, the primary greenhouse is built beside a Victorian-era sandstone retaining wall - affectionately referred to as the "Great Wall", facing due south. Our team rebuilt much of the sandstone Great Wall throughout the winter of 2014 and tackled construction during the record-breaking bitter cold February of 2015.

The finished product consists of two separate greenhouses. The primary, or "lower" greenhouse, is an eco-machine, generating heat for itself year round. Here we grow an assortment of vegetables and the seedinglings for our other operations. The secondary greenhouse, an unheated high-tunnel, is used to grow early tomatoes and cold hardy crops like lettuce and spinach.

In the Wheeling Heights neighborhood, the east-facing slope between Grandview and Serig Streets, Wheeling

The dream for Vineyard Hills Orchard began in 2014 when Grow Ohio Valley, Wheeling Heritage, Wheeling Housing Authority, and local residents began to think of creative ways to beautify the cleared hillsides in the Wheeling Heights neighborhood. Historically, Wheeling’s Vineyard Hill was cultivated in the mid-1800s to serve as vineyards producing altar wine for local churches (hence the name!). Through much of the 20th century this hill was the site of the Vineyard Hills public housing project. Grow Ohio Valley is keeping the history of this hill alive as land that nourishes our community - with natural beauty as well as fruit.

Tree planting began in 2017. Today there are over 300 fruit trees, including 45 varieties of apple, as well as peach, Asian pear, and plum trees. This fruit is currently sold in the Public Market, as well as featured in our CSA.

Lincoln Meadow was the site of Lincoln Homes public housing. After these homes were demolished in the late 1990s the land sat abandoned for more than a decade. Now our community can enjoy this space again. We've spent the last five years curating mineral-balanced, living soils and perfecting growing methods that work on this reclaimed land.

Our two 30’ x 100’ high tunnels here produce vegetables year-round. Right beside them you’ll find a yurt and youth garden where we offer afterschool and summer programs for kids of all ages. The meadow itself offers the best views of downtown Wheeling, all from an island of green forests. It’s another world just two blocks up the hill from the city streets.

The Meadow is highly visible to those living within Wheeling and to those traveling past on I-70 and I-470. This urban farm characterizes the skyline of Wheeling, perched on the western slope of historic Vineyard Hill. It makes a clear visual statement that social renewal is possible through urban agriculture, especially here in Wheeling. GrowOV is changing the face of Wheeling, showing that this is a growing place, a growing city.