RUMFORD — What began with three Mead Paper Mill employees prompted by their employer to do a worthy community service project has blossomed into arguably the most productive vegetable gardens in the River Valley.

Steve Hardy, Larry Hodges and Bob Withrow took a previously unused, roughly half-acre plot of land, bordered by the Swift River to the east and Hosmer Field to the west, and began planting vegetables 12 years ago for the consumption of those in need in the River Valley, said Barbara Murphy, an educator with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Service and a gardener at the Rumford site from its inception.

The Cooperative Extension operates vegetable gardens that grow produce for those in need throughout the state including the two in Oxford County, one in Rumford and the other in Paris.

The Rumford Harvest for Hunger garden is run in partnership with the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, and the vegetables grown in the garden are distributed to various food pantries, community meal sites as well as many other sites.

The two Oxford County gardens produce on average 25,000 pounds of vegetables each year and roughly 221,000 pounds of vegetables since the garden’s beginning, Murphy said.

“The vegetables we grow here include lettuce, onions, potatoes, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, Swiss chard, peas, spinach and beets,” Murphy said.

“Our mission is to get fresh fruit and vegetables to those who have limited access to these foods, ” Murphy said, “as well as to promote good health.”

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