Broccoli, brussels sprouts and beans flourish in what was an empty lot filled with broken bottles and used syringes.
“It used to be drug dealing spot, real sketchy,” Travis McKenzie, organizer of Project Feed the Hood’s International District garden said.
The International District garden, located on Wellesley Drive near Kirtland Air Force Base, is one of Project Feed the Hood’s many community gardens statewide.
Community gardens are a growing nationwide trend, and they abound in the university area, making them the perfect place for students to volunteer, local garden organizers said.
Organizers of UNM-area community gardens such as the Action Buzz Garden, the Rio Grande Community Farm’s garden and the Growing Awareness Urban Farm all emphasized the sense of social connection and personal empowerment that develops through participating in a community garden.
“There is a lot of learning, sharing and character building that goes on in conversations in the gardens and greenhouses, and it is a very good thing,” said Morgan Attema, volunteer organizer of the Growing Awareness Urban Farm. “Get back out into the dirt — it’s educational, healthy and just plain fun.”
The Growing Awareness Urban Farm is located at the East Central Ministries building about five miles from UNM, and includes a plant nursery, pottery workshop, apiary, chicken coops, demonstration and community garden and a farm store.
Attema said the farm is always looking for student volunteers.
The Action Buzz Garden, located about three miles from campus in the downtown Wells Park neighborhood, provides additional opportunities for students to get involved, said Wade Patterson, the garden’s former community planner. He said the organization is seeking a student group to help manage the garden.
He said the garden was developed on a former illegal dumping ground, and it offers an opportunity for local residents to grow healthy food, connect with neighbors and network with gardeners throughout the city.
“I think at first some of the neighbors were not so sure about what it was we were up to,” he said. “But after the first season, many in the area came to compliment the project, inquire about gardening themselves, or otherwise appreciate the investment of time and energy. Because the lot had previously been vacant, many now see the space as a little ‘parklet’ and some come to enjoy the space who don’t even garden there.”
He said households can rent an 8-by-4-foot raised bed plot for $25 a season, and gardeners are responsible for watering and managing their plots.
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After witnessing the impact Action Buzz Garden has had in the Wells Park neighborhood, Patterson said he hopes more empty lots can be transformed into gardens.
“My dream would be to see other contingencies begin to cultivate other vacant lots to improve food access and security,” he said. “Particularly in these difficult times in a part of town that has some impressively low income numbers, I can only imagine some are going hungry. This is one empowering way to address that.”
McKenzie said the International District garden has transformed the community around it.
“Little kids come and play here all the time, it’s a safe place for them to hang out,” he said. “The neighbors say there’s less crime here since we started the garden.”
He said anyone who comes to work in the garden can take home what they harvest that day.
Sarah Carrion, the community garden coordinator for Rio Grande Community Farm’s gardens, said students from UNM and CNM are involved in cultivating rows in the gardens.
The garden, located in the Los Poblanos Open Space about five miles from campus, includes 110 rows that are rented at $40 a year.
She said that the Rio Grande Garden’s format is perfect for an individual living in an apartment complex or a student dorm, and she encouraged anyone considering gardening to jump in.
“You’ll have a hobby that’s cool and fun, and you save money while growing local, organic food,” she said. “Go for it and do it. Find the garden closest to you, research what can be grown, and learn as you go. Just throw some seeds down.”
