A Backyard Garden Program in Southeast Houston
Go Neighborhoods along with the OST/South Union Health Improvement Partnership (OHIP) have been working closely to transform the Southeast Houston area by empowering residents to bring values, community history and culture to their community. GO Neighborhoods and OHIP have been focusing on the zip code area of 77201, an area that has been identified as a food desert. To combat this and to encourage community engagement, a goal of backyard gardens was envisioned. In 2014, the GO Neighborhoods received a grant of $10,000 from the Garden Club of Houston. With this grant, they were able to start 10 backyard gardens. Members of the community could request a garden and once accepted, the Go Neighborhood’s Master Gardener, Terry Garner, provided a 4 by 10 garden bed. For those in the community who live in apartment complexes, GO Neighborhoods provides containers, potting soil and seeds so they could also produce their own food.
Members of the community who received a backyard garden are encouraged to attend a Gardening 101 class every
month. During these classes, Terry explains the logistics of gardening, when to water and how to conserve water. Members of the Gardening 101 class also receive enough seeds to last 2-3 seasons. Last season, community members had the opportunity to plant produce such as kale, mustard greens, collard greens, swiss chard and a variety of herbs. The backyard gardens have been such a success that Go Neighborhoods was awarded additional funds which allowed them to expand to 30 backyard gardens. A community garden is also available to those who want to be involved. There are roughly 20 garden beds at the community garden site along with a farmer’s market where members of the community can buy fresh produce. This past year, the community garden was able to produce around 2,000 pounds of produce. The feedback from the community has been extremely positive with many stating that they enjoy the opportunity to not only grow their own food and save money, but also have the opportunity to stay active. Go Neighborhoods and OHIP hopes that this initiative will continue to grow and allow community members to teach each other on how to produce their own food.
Author: Maggie Amaku
6/13/2019
