What to Expect with Your First Garden By Ed Mekeel Public Affairs Specialist USDA Food and Nutrition Service Dallas, Texas

Finding a Perfect Fit In 2009, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack challenged his agency’s offices nation wide to start “People’s Gardens” to encourage healthy eating, physical activity and promotion of agriculture in America. Our USDA Food and Nutrition Service office in Downtown Dallas was faced with a predicament because our facility had no green area, was surrounded by busy streets, and our rooftop of our building was off limits to employees. So we searched for a location that not only would provide enough space to grow fruits and vegetables, but would be accessible to the public to promote the Secretary’s goals for the garden.

Welcome to Macon Elementary In the Summer of 2009, our office’s garden found a home at B.H. Macon Elementary, a great school located in an economically-challenged area in Southeast Dallas’ Pleasant Grove neighborhood. The administration and staff welcomed the idea and pledged support for the project from day one. This academically exemplary school provide enough space for two large garden areas that consisted of 20 plots that measured 8 ft by 8 ft.

A Partnership USDA FNS staff and Dallas Independent School reached out to public partners, People Empowerment Project and League of United Latin American Citizens, for volunteer and financial support. Although our federal offices were challenged to launch a community garden, we relied solely on people power. Funding was needed for important tools, compost and seeds to bring this project together.

Study the Situation Before we even broke ground, People Empowerment Staff sent soil samples to Texas A&M University’s agriculture experts to see if the ground was suitable to plant. There is always a risk of contamination of soil because of previous structures or prior uses of the land. We got a green light to plant in late summer. Our group also consulted with local master gardeners to see what type of fruits and vegetables grow in North Texas during the fall and spring. Master gardeners provided us a calendar that shows what weeks we should begin to plant for a good crop to grow.

Breaking Ground In August 2009, we rushed to break ground in two areas to meet planting deadlines. We farmed two stretches of land between two buildings and an area in an open field. We removed top soil and grass. Then the school district provide its tractor to turn the soil deep enough for us to plant.

Taking Ownership We developed a system of 8 ft x 8 ft plots designated for each class from kindergarten to 6 th grade. The plots would be maintained by adult volunteers and classmates. Plots were surrounded by wooden planks to keep soil from eroding during windy days. The school provided a fence to keep out animals.

Responsibility Gardening requires constant watering, which school janitors provided in the evening. Students needed to mix nutrient-rich compost dirt prior to planting to improve the chances of a good harvest. After seeds were planted, they had to weed garden plots days later to make sure water and nutrients only went to seedlings. Macon Elementary teachers gave their classes a 30-minute break to work in the garden once a week.

Gardening As a Lesson In order for students to participate, gardening had to be incorporated into education. Creative teachers worked in science (the explanation of how plants grow, the purpose of worms, etc.), math (measuring plots using rulers, estimating days that seedlings will produce vegetables, what is an ounce and a pound, etc.), physical education (shoveling dirt, weeding and planting), and English (writing about their garden). Surprisingly, students saw this garden duty as a treat and not as a labor-intense project under the Texas sun.

Harvest Time After weeks of anticipation, the first crops were ready to be harvested. As part of an agreement with USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Macon Elementary donated half of their vegetables to a nearby food pantry, The Wilkinson Center, which services Pleasant Grove neighborhoods of Southeast Dallas. Although the pantry gets a lot of canned food, fresh fruits and vegetables are a rare commodity for pantries.

Recommendations Be prepared to work on a daily/weekly basis. Regular watering schedules are needed, along with constant weeding. Gardening requires hard work with bending, kneeling and leaning requirements. Working in the outdoors requires sun block, bug spray, good gloves with a firm grip, work clothes you don’t mind staining with mud and grass, and a lot of bottled water to replenish your body’s fluids. Budget enough funds for good soil/compost to make your garden successful. North Texas soil is hard, full of clay and needs to be turned deep enough in order for plants to grow successfully. Follow growing season recommendations. Planting a month after the deadline will result in smaller vegetables or no growth. Don’t waste time, resources and space on vegetables or fruits that will not produce.

Recommendations Start small. Big plot areas are great, but if you do not have enough volunteers, time or money you will be spread too thin. Make sure all parties in your project are invested. Since USDA employees can only volunteer one day of the week, partners from the community are needed on other days. After you are done for the season, cover your plots with tarps or old newspaper. An exposed plot full of nutrient-rich dirt will produce 7-ft high weeds within a month. Make sure to look for financial resources to purchase compost dirt, lumber for plot perimeters, seeds and tools (hoes, shovels, wheel barrel and rakes). Be prepared in Texas for rainy weather in the fall and late freezes in the spring. This can delay your harvesting in the fall and planting in the spring.

Good Luck Gardening can be fun and a great opportunity to mentor kids who need to make the connection of where our food comes from, the healthy benefits we get from eating all types of fruits and vegetables, and how our local farmers have a great responsibility to feed our nation. Ed Mekeel Public Affairs Specialist USDA Food and Nutrition Service