Marsh Foundation to Hold Spring Plant Sale and Historic Homestead Tours

VAN WERT, Ohio – The Marsh Foundation ‘Marsh Grown’ garden program will be holding their annual spring plant sale on Saturday, May 11 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in The Marsh Foundation greenhouse. All proceeds will go to the campus youth garden program. The historic Marsh Homestead will also be open for public tours at noon, 1 and 2 p.m.

For sale will be:

• hanging petunia baskets;
• one quart size annuals;
• tomato plants; and
• various succulent and house plants.

The Marsh Grown youth garden program is dedicated to helping young people develop a sense of land stewardship and learn the importance of healthy food. Participants are taught valuable gardening skills throughout the season. In addition, the program serves as a catalyst for youth to develop important job skills for future employment. Throughout the summer, the garden crew grows vegetables and sells them at the farmer’s market for income.

Participants in Marsh Grown garden crew are youth who are a part of The Marsh Foundation’s Independent Living Group. They are all 15 ½ years of age or older and are working on skills that will help them be successful as adults. The garden program is an opportunity for them to interact with peers and adults, develop quality job skills and learn how to grow healthy food.

Ron Bagley, former Marsh Director and current Marsh Foundation Historian, will be giving public tours of the Marsh Family Homestead. Tours are open to anyone interested in learning more about the history of The Marsh Foundation and seeing the home where George, Hilinda and Katie lived. Tours are free and will be provided on a first come, first served basis. They will last approximately 30 minutes. The home itself was completed in 1865 and has been a visual icon in Van Wert ever since. The interior has been preserved to look much like it did when the Marsh family occupied it in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

For more information, please contact activities coordinator, Sherry Grone at 419.238.1695 ext. 270 or via e-mail at

The Marsh Foundation is a not-for-profit children’s services agency that provides behavioral treatment in a variety of settings. Services include group homes, treatment and family foster care, an intensive treatment program and independent living. Located in Van Wert, Ohio, the organization’s group homes are licensed for up to 30 children ages 7 – 17, offers an on-campus school for grades 2 – 12 and provides a variety of clinical services to group home residents, foster care children and community members.

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