A local nonprofit and a Recreation District teamed up to create a community garden tucked away in a Houma neighborhood, and they might start a second in Mechanicville.
“It builds community, so people bond and connect over the garden,” One Community Center Founder Aronda Smith said. “So anyone can come out and volunteer.”
Smith and Rec. District 11 teamed up to create a 60-by-60 acre, 16-row community garden in the Scott Lane neighborhood of Houma. In the month since its founding, sprouts are pushing through the soil. Rec. District 11 soon will vote on land in the Mechanicville area to duplicate the community garden near King Street, Smith said.
The goal of making the gardens, she said, was to have a local project that would draw the community together to a common goal. And with food prices climbing, the project was also practical.
“The way the economy is, as many ways as we can get creative in providing support and resources for our community, we have to take advantage of those things,” she said.
Smith said she had seen community gardens in other cities, and so she asked on Facebook if anyone had spare land they’d be willing to donate. Rec. District 11 Board Member Bonita White, responded that they had land behind the Scott Lane Park, and other District Members were on board. Smith said the garden’s location holds a special place in her heart since she grew up two blocks from the location.
“I wanted the first community garden, honestly, to be in my community,” she said. As she watered the garden people drove by beeping their horns and waving.
The friendships in the area already have helped troubleshoot one problem. A tank meant for watering the garden is having problems, and a neighbor to the garden has already lent his water hose for the project.
The garden was seeded with a “Fall harvest,” by Smith’s Aunt Betty Mitchell, the Master Gardener. Vegetables include turnips, beets, mustard greens, collard greens, carrots, cabbage and more. She also intends to add some fruit trees to the garden. Smith said she is inviting local food trucks to the area when the garden is harvested to cook the produce and give out free meals to the community.
“I’ll have the food trucks come out on site and cook something from the garden but get creative with it,” Smith said. “Make something different than what we are accustomed to here in Terrebonne Parish.”
Currently the plants need their space to grow, so there’s not a ton of work to be done with the garden. Smith and three volunteers come out every other day to water the garden. Picnic tables have been donated to the garden, and others want to volunteer their time for activities like Yoga near the garden.
To find out more about how to get involved, or when activities will take place, Smith said, those interested can go to her nonprofit’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565627883288.
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