Examples | How Does it Work? | Resources | Learn More

 

New gardener Gloria Lopez

Gardens can give good, fresh food while providing family fun, building community relationships, and creating a new business. The Siouxland Community Garden Project is bringing people together for community building and education.

We’re also training potential market gardeners and new farmers. While project activities are open to everyone, this project is focused on Hispanic market gardeners. Traditionally they have received few resources, and their numbers are dwindling in Nebraska.

Look on this page for news of the garden project and links to resources for community gardens and Spanish-language farming/gardening materials. For example, the garden was featured on KMEG14 News at Sunrise.

Examples

The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) program in California is one of the longest-running farm training sites in the country. It’s located in the Salinas Valley, the heart of California’s intensive, high value vegetable zone, where Latin American farm workers tend and harvest the vast fields of lettuce, strawberries, artichokes and broccoli.

ALBA’s incubator farm trains seasonal farm workers to grow their own crops and run their own businesses. Trainees start with a small plot and move up to renting an acre or more. Many ALBA graduates are self-employed, full-time farmers after a few years. Latin American farmers in the area around ALBA have increased by 70% in the last 10 years.

Here's a news story about public land used for crops and gardens: More public land could be opened to growers, Petaluma360

Here in Nebraska, the incubator farm concept is working, too. Community CROPS runs several community gardens for immigrants and others around Lincoln. CROPS sponsors a farm business planning course each year and rents increasingly larger plots to course graduates for market gardening. CROPS has now ‘graduated’ its first market gardener out of its subsidized garden space.

How Does it Work?

First planting day at the Siouxland Community Gardens.

The Center for Rural Affairs, with the assistance of contributors, is providing training to gardeners of all skill levels! This includes information on organic practices, presentations from local farmers, small business training, and hands-on training in the garden. It is our hope that gardeners will sell their crops at a Farmers’ Market, to other end users, or for eventual commercial-scale farming.

 

Growing your own food is empowering! By gardening, people will have access to healthy and affordable organic produce and have the opportunity to sell their bountiful harvest for extra income.

The South Sioux City Community Garden has two locations, both on city property. The Bryan School site is located at the corner of 32nd St. & Dakota Ave. The second garden location is 216 W. 22nd St., next to the South Sioux City Library. The Corazones Alegres Senior Citizens Club has adopted the project, and many of the 22nd Street plots are in use by its members.

Martha Lopez examines worm compost.

A community management team decided on two plot sizes: 5’x10’ and 10’x20’. The smaller plots were designed with beginning gardeners in mind, and the larger plots for gardeners with more experience. Each garden site is equipped with both small and large plots, so people can take their pick.

We have over 50 individual plots available. The city has offered several additional sites, as have several individuals, which could be available to market gardeners who need larger spaces.

The City of South Sioux City has provided tilling services and the use of onsite water facilities in exchange for maintenance of the City Parks’ flowerbeds. “Weeding parties” are being scheduled; gardeners will team up to weed the flowerbeds.

A number of training sessions have been held for beginning and market gardeners. These garden training workshops are open to the public and held every other Saturday from Noon to 2:00 p.m. in the South Sioux City Public Library Meeting Room. Spanish-language translation is provided for speakers and handouts. This has been very important in this community, which has a large number of immigrants with limited English ability. Workshops have consisted of:

Jerry Dewitt of ISU explaining worm composting.

Garden Planning: Master Gardener Sandra Odle, shared an introductory lesson on Planning Your Garden including seasons, frost, crops & varieties, and layouts. Also, Dakota County Commissioner & gardener Tony Gomez spoke about his experiences and offered advice to those interested in farming and market gardening.

Seed Starting: Farmer Rebecca Terk of Flying Tomato Farms (http://flyingtomato.wordpress.com) provided a hands-on and in-depth look at seed starting! Participants were able to start their own seeds during the workshop and take them home to care to care for!

Rebecca Terk, Flying Tomato Farms, explaining plant starting.

Growing for Market: Angela Jackson, owner of PrairieSun Organics explored with the group her process of growing for market, farmers market booth set-up and selling techniques. Jerry DeWitt from Iowa State University’s Leopold Center also taught the group about indoor worm composting (vermiculture). This hands-on demonstration concluded with interested participants taking home a plate of their very own worms!

Organic Garden Management: Mimi Shanahan, Woodbury County (IA) Master Gardener Coordinator, held an open forum for gardening questions and taught the group about non-chemical garden management, such as managing weeds and pests, encouraging beneficial insects, and how to choose plants resistant to disease. Mimi stressed that prevention is key. If you keep up your garden, you will not need chemicals!

Angela Jackson, PrairieSun Organics, explaining market gardening with a translator.

The community garden project is made possible with support from the USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program, Center for Rural Affairs, City of South Sioux City, Club Corazones Alegres, Loess Hills RC&D and Sioux Rivers RC&D.

Resources and Events

Community garden resources:

• Arvada CO community garden video
   
• American Community Garden Association
   
• National Gardening Association
   
• ATTRA “Start a farm in the city”(link opens PDF)
   
• En espanol: “Comience una granja en la ciudad”
  
  

   

Spanish language farm/garden resources:

• ATTRA publications
   
• Swisher, Mickie, Mark Brennan and Mital Shah. 2007. Hispanic-Latino Farmers and Ranchers Project: extension and research needs in the US. A survey of Extension agents, list of farming publications in Spanish, and Hispanic-serving organizations in the US
   
• USDA Farm Service Agency farm loan and assistance web pages in Spanish
   
• USDA CSREES/Extension Spanish publications clearinghouse, Extension en Espanol
   
• Grassroots Guide to the 2008 Farm Bill/ Guía para Movimientos de Base de la Ley Agrícola del 2008
   
• Getting Started – A Vendor’s Guide to Successful Sales at Farmers’ Markets: Minimum Requirements for Food Safety and Educational Support for Vendors/ Como empezar – Una guía para tener ventas exitosas durante el Mercado de Agricultores
   
• USDA Sustainable Ag Network “Estrategias Economico-Ambientales en la Crianza de Cerdos”
   
• Iowa Cooperative Extension vegetables and herbs
   
• ALBA Farmer Training Course description (link opens PDF)
   
• Cornell University safe food handling for farmers and other fresh produce handlers. Farm Food Safety Planning Guides for farmers and training materials for farm workers
   
• Mississippi State University Extension publications
  
  
• Washington State University Extension publications (link opens PDF)
  
  
• Center for Agricultural Partnerships, pest management guide for fruit trees in Washington
  
  
• Oregon State University Extension Spanish language publications
  
  
• University of California-Davis Extension Spanish language publications
  
  
• University of Nebraska Spanish language guides to food processing for sale
  
  
• University of Missouri Spanish language publications on sustainable agriculture
  
  
• University of Illinois Extension Spanish language gardening publications
  
  
• Colorado State University plant care podcasts and audio stories in Spanish
  
  
• Ohio State University farm safety publications in Spanish
  
  
• New Mexico State University Extension publications in Spanish, horticulture and community garden
  
  
• Michigan State University Extension fruit and berry pest scouting guides in Spanish
  
  
• University of Florida Extension publications in Spanish

Learn More

For more information, contact Wyatt Fraas at wyattf@cfra.org or 402-254-6893 or Amy Radding at amyr@cfra.org or 402.687.2100. Amy is fluent in Spanish.