Victory Garden Initiative (VGI) is offering Milwaukee gardeners and community advocates the opportunity to purchase four-by-eight-foot raised bed gardens as gifts. The garden beds will be installed from May 7 through 21 during the Great Milwaukee Victory Garden BLITZ, the nation’s largest urban gardening event.

New BLITZ gardeners can expect a raised bed garden box filled with compost-rich, organic soil, 10 inches deep. VGI also partners with Slow Food Wisconsin Southeast, Teens Grow Greens and other local organizations to offer seedlings at a reasonable cost to jumpstart new growers’ gardens.

“Research shows that people who garden eat more vegetables and lead more productive, healthier and happier lives,” says VGI Executive Director Gretchen Mead. “Research also shows that neighborhoods with gardens have less violence and increased civic engagement; kids who grow up gardening with a mentor have a stronger environmental ethic; and children who grow up eating homegrown vegetables are more likely to foster a local economy.”

For more information, email [email protected] or visit VictoryGardenInitiative.org/blitz.