Unity Gardens is looking to grow in South Bend

SOUTH BEND -- What started in 2008 with the planting of a few seeds in the ground, could soon grow an education center, designed to bring more locally grown food to the city.

Organizers of The Unity Gardens will appear before South Bend's redevelopment commission next Tuesday to ask for a long-term lease on the property located at the corner of Ardmore Trail and Prast Boulevard, where the organization currently runs a community garden.

The goal, said Sara Stewart, the group's executive director, is to establish an indoor education center on the site, a parking lot for the Urban Farmers market and sites to promote a food-to-market program, where people will learn to grow food to sell.