IBERIA PARISH — What started as an empty field on the west end of New Iberia has grown into a space that feeds both the body and the spirit. The Iberia Market Garden, founded by community member Phanat Xanamane, is celebrating its 12th anniversary this year.
Xanamane’s ties to the land run deep. His family immigrated from Laos to Louisiana in 1981, eventually settling on Hopkins Street in the West End neighborhood. They ran an Asian market next door to their home, and his grandparents kept gardens on the property. The market was sold in 2005, and the land sat unused.
After years of studying and working around the world, including in New York and Thailand, Xanamane returned in 2010 with a mission: to turn the space into something meaningful.
“When I moved back it, was all back to grass again, basically. There’s nothing here in terms of a real garden and so I decided to just put my shovel in the ground,” he said. “I became obsessed, basically.”
That passion eventually grew into a full operation, supported by grants from organizations including the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation and the Iberia Parish Foundation. The funding helped launch irrigation systems, greenhouses and hydroponic towers, transforming the site into a working farm and teaching space.
Over the years, the garden has weathered droughts, storms and even snow, but Xanamane says it has also brought lasting rewards.
“They see this garden, a beautiful garden… that you don’t ordinarily see in this part of town,” he said. “It’s like Alice in Wonderland, you know, escape for them. I think it’s very important to have an environment, where there’s so much poverty and so much struggle, that you can have an escape from that and imagine.”
For Xanamane, the project is about more than vegetables. It’s about community pride and showing young people what’s possible in their own neighborhood.
“I’m very proud of that and I’m proud of this community,” he said. “It definitely has its struggles, for sure, but there are really good people here. There are young people that deserve to see more positive things in their community.”
The Iberia Market Garden continues to supply produce to local restaurants and families, while also welcoming school groups, volunteers, and guests from around the world who stay on the property through Airbnb and other programs.
Volunteers are welcome on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Volunteers receive 2 pounds of free vegetables for each hour they put in. Iberia Market Garden also offers 4- and 8-week seasonal vegetable box subscriptions, which cost $150 for the summer season. For more information, you can visit the Iberia Market Garden Facebook page.
Comments are closed.