What We Grew: Stories from Entre Plantas y Cultura Participants

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As the Summer season comes to an end and we start to see signs of Fall, our gardeners have started to see the fruits of their labor and are excited to share what their hard work this growing season has accomplished them. Earlier this Spring, a group of local community members joined our Entre Plantas y Cultura (Between Plants and Culture) project, with the hopes that this would teach them about successfully starting their urban gardens. Some of the participants had prior experience with small gardens, but some were starting with none but full of excitement.

We interviewed three of our participants about their experience with the project; Arlene Ruiz Hampton, Mercedes Harn, and Elizabeth Orellana. All of them with different levels of experience growing their own gardens. Here is what they had to share about their experience with their gardens this year.

 

 

 

 

What made you want to join this project of Entre Plantas y Cultura?

Arlene: “What grabbed my attention is that it was intended for people who like gardening and that it was done by Casa de la Cultura, meaning that it wasn’t just for Hispanic people and inviting people who spoke both English and Spanish. I am bilingual and I can totally fit there and feel welcomed and I am learning. I love gardening but I am not expert but love to get my hands dirty and I signed up and hoped to get a call back and when I did, I got super excited!”

Mercedes (translated from Spanish): “I was interested in learning more about gardening and how I can make my garden better. I was excited to meet new people and be in community.”

Elizabeth (translated from Spanish): “I was interested in learning how to grow my own food. I also wanted to meet more people and share different tips and advice about gardening.”

 

 

 

 

 

Before joining this project, how much experience did you have with growing your own food or plants? Did you have any concerns before setting up your garden at home?

Arlene: “Very little, I had only one year of doing it myself and this is my second year of having done my own garden. I am a newbie with gardening, and I feel when it comes to gardening you just learn so much, and with nature, especially in Kentucky, one day you get tons of rain and then no rain at all, so you have to work with mother nature. I was mostly excited, my intimidation was mostly of wondering if I will have anything pop up and grow, that was mainly my question.”

Mercedes (translated from Spanish): “Every Summer I try to grow my own garden, so it’s been about four years, growing my own tomatoes. My garden is very organic, meaning I just plant them and water them and then let nature be the one to help me. When I am at home, I water my plants, but if I am away for example in Peru is a bit more complicated, then my plants don’t get watered because my husband doesn’t water them unless he is able to sometimes. But, I usually plant tomatoes, chilies, cucumbers. I do have experience, the only thing I didn’t have knowledge is how to deal with pests or illnesses in my garden. I am a bit more shy when sharing about my garden, because I have a small area for my garden compared to others, so I don’t show off what grows and because it all depends on the soil and other factors that everyone has is different.”

Elizabeth (translated from Spanish): “Zero, nothing! I was scared that I wasn’t going to have results or nothing would work!”

 

Which workshop or hands-on technique did you learn that helped you for your home setup? Did you run into any surprises like pests, weather, or struggling seedlings and how did you solve it?

Arlene: “So many of them! Just by asking questions, I learned a lot! By being able to send messages back and forth to like-minded people, and just say hey this is going on in my garden what do you think I should do? Or this little bug is eating this up what is going on? Someone who had more experience was able to shoot me a message within a couple of hours and say try this or give me a tip, I think that is the biggest thing that helped me this year. The motivation that I can just send a text message, and I can get advice. I really enjoyed sending our pictures and even learning how to set up a T post for my tomatoes. I didn’t know that tomatoes could grow tall if you gave them support. I just though they grew short because I never did that, this year they grew as tall as me because I gave them support, so it was pretty neat! This year I think a lot of people struggled with the beetles, like cucumber beetles and squash beetles, and what the ladies in the text message recommended was soapy water and neem oil. So, I tried that and it kept it down, and it helped the cucumbers. I had to pick between my squash and cucumbers, so I kind of made a deal with the bugs! My corn didn’t pop up, but I think it was too weedy where we planted, so we covered it with black tarp so it should be better for next season.”

Mercedes (translated from Spanish): “I really enjoyed the one where we made a beverage (Fire Cider) because we learned how to use herbs, and I have a lot of them! I also really liked the one where we learned about how to use organic fertilizers and how to grow organic food I thought that one was very interesting. Right now, the weather has helped with the rain and I took out my last cucumber, but it is nearing its ending. I also took out a pineapple, took about two years for it but it finally came out and it was so sweet and delicious. After two years and a lot of peer pressure and me constantly asking it when it was going to grow, it finally gave me a pineapple! A tip I got was to simply feed my plants with organic fertilizer, which is something that I found interesting and learning how to feed my soil, I never had thought about that.”

Elizabeth (translated from Spanish): “I think all of them since I didn’t know anything! I enjoyed the one when they taught us how to use organic fertilizers and growing our own organic food. I learned a lot in that workshop. I didn’t have any pests in my garden, but my plants did struggle. They looked malnourished and didn’t grow much. I think it was the soil, so I told Linelle and she got me new soil and that helped.”

 

What have you harvested so far, and how did it feel eating or sharing something you grew yourself?

Arlene: “The first things that came out was my cucumbers and squash. But what got me most excited was when my cantaloupes came out. I planted cantaloupes and watermelon just to see if they would grow because my kids love it, and well they grew and I ate like six cantaloupes they were little but so sweet and amazing. My kids and I were over the moon with them! My watermelon was not sweet, but it still grew, I had only one and it made me excited to grow fruit! I never grew fruit in my garden so that was super exciting! My kids loved it and knowing that we planted it, and each morning we would be like okay let’s check on our little garden and it was a whole ordeal. Asking is it ready yet and taking it inside and putting in the fridge so it can be even better and then waiting for it and the anticipation just learning waiting for it was a whole experience.”

Mercedes (translated from Spanish): “I mainly grow what I will eat, so right now a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers. I had planted epazote and it grew so much, but since I don’t really use it, I wasn’t sure how to utilize it, it was just there but I at least know that I can grow it. I called it the crazy epazote! I enjoy sharing what I grow with my family. I am always happy to point out to my family what has come out of our garden, so they know that they are eating all organic!”

Elizabeth (translated from Spanish): “Oh yes, it was my tomatoes they grew very fast! I also planted corn and small pumpkins, and hibiscus but they have not given flowers yet, but it is still growing. I also grew chilies, and rosemary. I planted cucumbers but have not yet harvested them, they just keep growing. I enjoyed eating the tomatoes and the pumpkins with my family, I just felt like wow it was worth the effort and now I have home grown tomatoes, and it makes me want them for next year too.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If someone in your neighborhood was handed seeds tomorrow and felt nervous about starting, what would you tell them?

Arlene: “My advice would be just going ahead and do it! Just get down and do it, find a little section where you want to do it close enough that you can get out of your house and walk towards it and do it. Make sure it gets enough sun and don’t think about it too much just go ahead and do it! You will love it and enjoy it, don’t try to have perfection! I wanted my garden to be so pretty this year, and it looks pretty because it is so wild and crazy. Next year it will be prettier, but it will most likely still be wild and crazy because the weeds are just wild and crazy and that is just the way it is! I got lots of stuff that the land gave me, and lots of colorful flowers and it is just beautiful. It’s nice, you just plant it and you wait, you’re patient, and the land will give you if you’re just patient.”

Mercedes (translated from Spanish): “Don’t worry, we are all learning! Like I tell my students, there is no wrong or right. No one is an expert in this; we are all learning and experimenting. It is great to do it in community too, and we all start with no information and learn together!”

Elizabeth (translated from Spanish): “I would say just try and see! Just do it, so that you can see and not just wonder what would happen and you are taking care of your plants and tending to your garden. It is worth it and the results at the end make you feel that effort, patience, and dedication show you that your plants return that love your pour into them.”

 

It truly has been so exciting to see our community members experience this journey with their urban gardens. From attending the monthly workshops and the constant communication through their group chat, they have all become a hub of learning for each other. We are proud of the work they have done this season, and appreciate their time and efforts put into this project of Entre Plantas y Cultura. Check out their progress through the pictures submitted by participants and also taken by our project coordinator Linelle Rivera Rodriguez.