LA PORTE, Ind. — The potatoes are finally in the ground and soon, other vegetables including onions and cucumbers will be planted.

The seeds are not being sowed on a farm but in a community garden created to help feed the hungry and bring about positive change in the economically challenged Indiana neighborhood surrounding it.

The garden in La Porte’s downtown area has been in the making for a couple of years, but the first seeds just recently went into the soil. Spearheading the effort is the United Way of La Porte County, which is receiving help from organizations such as I-U Health La Porte Hospital and the United Parcel Service in Westville.

It’s taken a bit longer than expected for the garden to officially come about because all of the work is subject to the availability of volunteers in the community, 15 miles from the southern tip of Lake Michigan.

Volunteers have done everything from acquiring the former municipal parking lot donated by the city, to having the asphalt removed and black dirt brought in as fresh and fertile cover for the garden, said Dave Sisk, director of corporate engagement for the local United Way.

"We didn’t have to pay for any of that stuff," he said.

The city, also at no cost, installed a water spigot in the middle of the garden for people to use in growing their vegetables. The garden at Jefferson and Jackson streets contains more than 40 plots with several already reserved by local food pantries and churches for growing produce to supplement their food supplies for the needy.

On June 12, an army of volunteers is scheduled to finish the planting, create walking paths of mulch leading to each of the plots and install around the perimeter a decorative fence that will have climbing vegetable plants growing on it.

Sisk said all of the planting this year is being done by professionals, but come harvest time, the general public will be allowed to go in and pick vegetables from many of the plots. "The rest is free to pick. It’s open to the public."

The goal next year is to have plots open for planting by residents in the neighborhood, who’ve expressed varying degrees of interest in raising their own produce.

Not everything is etched in stone on how the garden will function, but there will be a series of public meetings to inform citizens how they can use the garden once all of the procedures are hammered out, said Sisk. Classes on how to raise fresh vegetables and use fresh produce to improve the nutrition and taste of home-cooked meals as part of the community garden program have already held, with more planned.

Community gardens have been popping up in recent years in cities like Chicago and South Bend and, specifically, economically challenged neighborhoods where fresh produce in many households is not affordable or easily accessible.

"One of my main goals was initially to just teach people a bit of self-sufficiency. If you can grow your own food, you can feed yourself and your family and be sure that you have access to healthy foods," said Sacha Burns, who’s helping to plant and maintain the garden.

Burns, the owner of a small farm called Sunkissed Organics between La Porte and Westville, is also teaching some of the classes. She believes the garden will be a source of spiritual uplifting, judging by early response from some of the surrounding residents, including children.

"That area has been seen as an eyesore for years, but it really has some great folks living around there who are optimistic about the garden changing how the area is viewed. I hope it gives them something to be proud about," said Burns.