The peas and beans are sprouting in pots.

Tomatoes, strawberries, peppers and almost "everything that you can grow in the Midwest" should be next.

Melissa Rogers and her 9-year-old daughter, Adrianna, can't wait to get out into the new Advent Community Garden in Eagan.

"We're super excited," Rogers said.

They'll join dozens of south-metro residents who will dig into community gardens this summer with the help of grants from Dakota County.

The county spread $18,000 worth of seed money over nine community garden projects this summer. All the funding comes from the county's pot of State Health Improvement Plan money, which must be used to fight chronic disease, obesity and tobacco use.

The nine gardens vary in form and function, but all are required to either make land available for low-income gardeners or donate a percentage of their produce to food shelves.

"The purpose is to increase access to healthy fresh fruits and vegetables, especially among low-income people and populations of color," said Shannon Bailey, who is coordinating the garden project at Dakota County Public Health.

That mission makes sense to Rogers, who wants to set an example for her daughter by promoting healthy eating in her own family while also providing for others.

"She will be learning a lesson," Rogers said. "You kind of have to give to receive in life."

At some of the new gardens, volunteers like Rogers will cultivate the crops and donate a portion or all of the harvest. In others, immigrants, apartment dwellers and people who fit low-income requirements will have a chance to grow their own fruits and vegetables.

Everything will be weighed, and although no one is sure how much produce will be harvested, it's likely to amount to thousands of pounds by summer's end.

"It's going to be just an enormous amount of food," Bailey said.

That's good news for Lisa Horn, the executive director of Eagan Resource Center. The food shelf at the center on Rahn Road serves more than 400 families a month, most of them from the Burnsville and Eagan area. Demand is particularly high in the summer months, when kids are on vacation and not getting meals at school.

The resource center gets produce from local grocery stores, but the supply depends on the stores' available inventory.

This summer, the resource center will have its own community garden and collect donated fruits and vegetables from others nearby.

"It will be a remarkable difference," Horn said. "This will allow us to supplement what we're getting from those grocery stores and have a consistent amount of produce."

The resource center plans to host workshops for gardeners who might need some ideas about how to prepare and serve different fruits and vegetables.

Gardening Matters, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit, will support the Dakota County gardeners throughout the summer, too. They have arranged for master gardeners to make trips to the gardens to offer tips on starting a garden, tending to it throughout the growing season and harvesting and storing produce.

The response to the new Highland Drive Community Garden on the grounds of Open Circle Church in Burnsville has been overwhelming, said coordinator Susanne Ingerson. People of varying ages and skill levels from the nearby neighborhood have claimed all 20 plots.

"They are eager to grow their own fresh, local food," Ingerson said. "But also it is such a great opportunity for them to come out and work with their neighbors and share their skills with a larger group."

Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056