Lindsay Rex, center, teaches new gardeners how to read seed packets.

WARSAW — Combined Community Services hosted a free workshop April 20, helping Kosciusko residents learn how to grow their own food at home.

CCS’s Lindsay Rex taught the workshop; around a dozen people registered and arrived for the class. Attendants were able to choose two plants they would like to grow, choosing between tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, basil, peppermint, cilantro and oregano.

The idea for the class came from making people self-suffiicient. Once you know how to grow your own produce, it can cut the cost of food. Most seed packets run about $1.50, and some are eligible for SNAP benefits.

Rex set attendants up with an egg carton that they then filled with potting soil and placed their chosen seeds in the soil. Provided with a copy of the back of the seed packets, the new gardeners will take their cartons home, water the seeds and wait for sprouts.

CCS hopes to add more classes like this one, including potentially teaching a class on how to build a garden box.

All of the supplies for the workshop were donated by ACE Hardware.