New Urban Farmers
How Does Your Garden Grow?

By Nancy Kirsch
Photos by Stephanie Ewens

“This corn is da bomb,” said Pitio, a 7-year-old boy, as he eagerly munched on a freshly roasted ear of succulently sweet corn on an overcast late September afternoon.

The delicious smell of roasting corn, fresh from a farm adjacent to New Urban Farmers’ (NUF) five-acre farm in Seekonk, Massachusetts, tempted both adults and children working or lounging in NUF’s community garden in a Pawtucket public housing development, Galego Court, on Weeden Street.

Founded in 2008 and incorporated in 2009, NUF works to increase access to healthy food for individuals and families in Pawtucket and Central Falls, cities whose low-income residents suffer from lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Their mission: “A community that grows together, grows together.” NUF empowers low-income individuals, families and at-risk youth with education and collaboration.

Nearly 20 years ago, the one and one-half acre spot had been a playground; the Pawtucket Housing Authority—whom Emily Jodka, assistant director, praises for their contributions—and NUF cleared the overgrown lot to create some 100 garden beds for the housing development residents.

NUF, which Bleu Grijalva, executive director, and Jodka established, is already gaining recognition: In 2010, it received Pawtucket’s John J. Cohn Award for community service and social justice.

Growing her own food is nothing new for Jodka, whose “hippie” parents had Victory Gardens and a wood stove. Energetic yet endlessly patient, Jodka, 26, engages easily with the kids.

“When [NUF] started, the kids came first, mostly out of curiosity; then [other] residents came,” she said. Interest is “snowballing with our second official season.”

The patchwork quilt of four- by four-foot garden beds—some bordered by colorfully painted bed-frame head- or footboards—includes a potpourri of produce: Carrots, cilantro and cucumbers, peas, peppers and pumpkins, and tomatoes and tomatilloes are among the offerings.

Asked which vegetable he most enjoyed eating, the corn-munching Pitio replied, “Pumpkin pie!”

It was pumpkin bread, not pie, that NUF staffers made with homegrown pumpkins, explained Jodka, before Pitio chimed in with his love of sunflowers and peas.

The residents come from so many cultures, said Jodka, that they may not know what to do with the food they are growing. “I want to help them make New England heritage foods their own.” NUF hosts cooking classes to teach residents how to healthfully cook unfamiliar foods—zucchini or Butternut squash, for example. At the same time, in their greenhouses, NUF nurtures fig trees, a lemon tree and avocado plants, with banana, persimmon and quince trees on their way—produce familiar to many residents.

Eleven-year-old Shikiali, fashionable with salon-painted fingernails, grows peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. Seeing the fish (tilapia are growing in an experimental aquaponics project) in the greenhouse and things growing in the gardens, she said, is better than going to the park. Trying to eat more healthfully, she’s also tried new foods, including squash.

Last year, hitting and swearing among the children was common; this year, Jodka and Liz Talbot, creative director, see remarkable progress.

“Kids really respond to the gardens—they get excited about growing and exploring,” said Talbot. “It’s a great place to get their energies out by being outside with us and to just be kids.” Suffused with laughter and giggles, Lala, 5, a tiny sprite of a girl, called carrots her favorite vegetables.

Jodka also sees children sprouting positive changes. “They treat each other with more respect and kindness; we’ve been able to get ‘pleases,’ ‘thank yous’ and ‘you’re welcomes,’” Jodka said. “We want them to fall in love with good, healthy food … and to find the enjoyment in picking peas.”

Adults, too, benefit from the community garden. Jodka related that Yolanda, an elderly resident who gardens regularly, has witnessed a stronger sense of community among Galego Court residents since NUF arrived.

Rafael Ramon, a two-year Galego Court resident, helps kids—by showing how to strategically place water bottles in the fence to spell “New Urban Farmers” and by keeping a watchful eye on their safety—and helps staff with odds and ends of washing and cleaning. He is eating better and saving money, he said, thanks to the lettuce, Butternut squash, African sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions and cucumbers his garden bed yields.

Even in its relative infancy, NUF has implemented some creative new approaches to urban farming. By marrying the benefits of aquaculture and hydroponics, NUF is experimenting with five water tanks holding 1,500 gallons of water and tilapia, a “much more efficient source of protein than a cow,” said Ann Torke, a permanent volunteer. The heat-absorbing water keeps the greenhouse warmer during the day (a natural benefit to the greenhouse plants), and fish waste fertilizes the plants, some of which are growing on a “media bed” of gravel with running water flowing underneath.

The folks at NUF explained that people can grow greens on any flat surface and the closed water system they use—fed by gravity—is simple and efficient. Come this spring, NUF expects to host a tilapia fish fry, when each fish grows to about 1½ pounds.

As young as it is, NUF is chugging along, with plans for several growing seasons to come. With contributions of money or in-kind donations from Pawtucket Housing Authority and Rhode Island School of Design, NUF has also received funding from New England Grassroots Fund and a Community Development Block Grant from Pawtucket, according to Jodka. This winter, NUF produce will be available at the Wintertime Farmers’ Market in Pawtucket’s Hope Artiste Village, which will provide additional revenue. Although NUF requests $5 from each of the residents who reserve a bed, that fee is waived whenever necessary.

Just as social interactions among the children have improved since NUF arrived, neighborliness is growing among the adults, as well. One neighbor whose property bordered the back of the community gardens had some conflicts with Grijalva, said Jodka. Today, “Bleu is helping him by getting him Meals on Wheels [deliveries] and giving him food,” she said. “Breaking down barriers with neighbors—it’s compelling.” The adults will sometimes trade produce among themselves and, recognizing the temptation of “stealing” strawberries and peas, NUF has some community beds with produce that the kids can freely sample.

While they “push food a little bit harder [than flowers],” said Jodka, NUF lets residents decide what to grow in their beds. Last May, NUF distributed 5,000 seedlings of peas, cucumbers and beans to Central Falls and Pawtucket residents.

With another community garden and greenhouse on Jefferson Street in Pawtucket, art and yoga programs for the children of Galego Court, a repurposed shed that will become NUF’s three-season office, and plans to get the greenhouses off-grid and solar-powered, NUF is buzzing with activity. Achieving the organization’s desire to serve communities not otherwise served, co-founder Grijalva, 42, with 28 years of food experience, said, “This is a place for everyone.”

Indeed it is. As skies cleared, children talked with adults, hammered rusty nails into boards and seemed wholly oblivious to a grocery store birthday cake, replete with sugary white frosting, that awaited someone’s birthday celebration. eR

Nancy Kirsch, executive editor of The Jewish Voice & Herald, has cooked professionally and gardened haphazardly. Today, her son, 17, cooks most meals for their family.

To learn more, visit www.newurbanfarmers.com To see more, watch the video on New Urban Farmers by Cherry Arnold/Big Orange Films at www.ediblerhody.com