(01/21/26) COVINGTON, La. — A butterfly flitted across rows of container plants while the sounds of children playing in the distance mixed with birdsong. Tim Ellzey and Will Afton walked among the plants, checking on strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.

Ellzey is the president of the Covington Community Garden, a nonprofit in Covington that sits on a quarter‑acre site owned by the city. The garden broke ground in 2022 and has been growing and thriving since.

“The purpose is to provide food for the neighbors and for the whole community of Covington, but also provide educational opportunities, not only in how to grow and how to plant, how to harvest, but also once you do, once you grow it, how do you prepare it?” Ellzey said. “That's our mission here.”

The garden operates through a cooperative agreement with the city, which provides essential utilities like water and electricity and helped install irrigation infrastructure. The project is deeply community-built. Local junior high agriculture students constructed fencing. Girl Scouts finished additional segments and built the composting system, while Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts contributed bridges and tables, and corporate groups donated labor and supplies.

The LSU AgCenter provided initial funding to get the garden started and has a nutrition education station in the garden called the NEST. The NEST is similar to an outdoor kitchen and can host cooking demonstrations and workshops.

Afton, LSU AgCenter horticulture agent in St. Tammany Parish, lends his gardening expertise to the effort.

“I kind of see myself as a volunteer, too.” Afton said. “I do presentations on the growing side for workshops here, and I lend Master Gardener volunteers, so they can get credit hours working out here.”

Volunteers are crucial to the garden’s success. A core group of about 13 to15 people form the backbone, contributing a range of skills and perspectives. Community members help plant, harvest and freely pick produce with surplus going to local food distribution organizations.

Will Afton, LSU AgCenter horticulture agent, left, and Tim Ellzey, president of the Covington Community Garden, inspect snow peas in the garden. The garden provides food and education to residents of Covington. Photo by Tobie Blanchard/LSU AgCenter

Volunteers plant squash in galvanized metal raised beds at the Covington Community Garden. Volunteers keep the garden thriving. Photo provided by Will Afton

Tim Ellzey, president of the Covington Community Garden, left, and Bob Gabour, volunteer at the garden’s booth at the Covington Farmers Market on Jan. 17. Photo by Tobie Blanchard/LSU AgCenter

The Covington Community Garden is a community effort with volunteers and sponsors pitching in to construct and fund the effort. Photo by Tobie Blanchard/LSU AgCenter

The garden is adjacent to Pine View Middle School and has partnered with it and other local schools to provide horticulture and nutrition education that fits within the state’s grade-level expectations.

“Energy conversion was a big thing. So, we tailored our education program about photosynthesis and how we convert light energy to stored energy,” Afton said. “You’ve got the educational aspect, and the garden is just a fun place to be.”

Looking ahead, leaders hope to add a greenhouse to start their own seedlings and expand plant varieties, as well as construct more storage. Long‑term goals include replicating this model in other areas once the current site is fully built out and volunteer capacity grows.

Ellzey and Afton have seen the garden become a hub of community connection and education, fulfilling the mission garden organizers set out to accomplish four years ago. They hope to see it becoming a fixture in the Covington community.

“The goal here is to make this thing financially sound so that 10, 20 years from now, these kids can come back and say, ‘I used to come over here for this,’” Ellzey said.

LSU AgCenter horticulture agent Will Afton, right, gives a presentation on collard greens at the Covington Community Garden’s booth at the Covington Farmers Market on Jan. 17. Photo by Bob Gabour