Like a Phoenix From the … Garden Bed?

What happens when you take a vacant lot—one that has been unused for 20 years—and transform it not only into a useful space, but a vibrant garden that provides fresh food for many people experiencing homelessness and low-income? Then what happens when you have to leave that newly refurbished space and start from ground zero in a lot just as vacant as the first with the added challenge of having contaminated soil? The aptly named Green Phoenix Farm—one of the gardens with Wasatch Community Gardens—knows exactly what happens because they have experienced this firsthand.

Starting in August of 2016, Green Phoenix Farm’s first location was located right by the Gateway. They transformed this lot, once riddled with weeds and trash, into a space that was able to produce good, healthy food. This process took years of hard work, requiring many hands. Now that their lease with the city has run out, they get the chance to start anew with a new lease in a new lot. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Amber Nichols, the director of Green Phoenix Farm. She describes this opportunity as daunting but an exciting way to reimagine the garden and fix past mistakes. Living up to their name, the people at Green Phoenix Farm have proved, once again, that unused spaces can be transformed into productive, environmentally friendly gardens that feed many mouths.

The new location, situated in a neighborhood just west of I-15, was previously the home of a community garden on one of the farther sides of the lot. However, due to heavy metal contaminants in the soil, it was shut down. Now, Green Phoenix Farm is attempting to try, once again, to transform this unwanted plot of land.

They are succeeding, too. Nichols describes how they have been working with the city to talk about natural soil remediation. Utilizing plants like sunflowers and zinnias, they are extracting the heavy metals out of the soil to restore it to a healthy state where food can be grown safely—a process called phytoremediation (there you go, a new fun fact to tell your family at Thanksgiving dinner). They are experimenting with using fungi, as well, in this endeavor. Thanks to these efforts in soil remediation, much more of the lot is able to be utilized. The area now boasts a large number of garden beds and a spot for a greenhouse in the near future.

Of course, a process like this comes with its challenges. Creating a garden this large takes a lot of physical effort. Tasks such as digging postholes, shoveling dirt, spreading mulch, and carrying heavy objects are hard work. When coupled with long days, these activities eventually take their toll. However, with the many volunteers and people working with the Farm, this issue is spread out amongst many people.

Nichols proposes the biggest challenge is finding ways to create more community gardens such as this one. She has seen that the community obviously views this garden as a need, and she wants to make sure Green Phoenix Farm is created in a way that can be replicated by others. As humans, growing food has been a huge part of our society for thousands of years. But as of late, this connection has become less and less prominent. Nichols hopes to set up this new Green Phoenix Farm location in a way that inspires others to introduce agriculture into more spaces, spreading the word like the branching roots of a sunflower.

The new location of the Farm aids in this want to share ideas. Additionally, it allows it to be more grounded in community and people. Being situated in a neighborhood, there are a lot more opportunities for people in the local community to find out about it and see how they can help out. With more people coming to help, there is an interesting domino effect. These volunteers go back to their own homes and communities with the lessons and ideas that they have learned. This then helps spread awareness not only of healthy eating habits and restorative, eco-friendly agriculture, but also of food insecurity and economic troubles in areas of Salt Lake City. By spreading awareness for these issues, it empowers and activates the community to do what they can to help out and uplift both the environment and other people. In the words of Nichols, “We’re all just fungi, coming in and sending information everywhere.”

Another way that Green Phoenix Farm empowers local communities is through the Green Team Job Training Program. The end goal of this program is to get women who are facing or experiencing homelessness into secure housing and entering a job that they are excited about. This is achieved through 15-16 weeks of employment on the farm where they are taught how to grow their own food and involved in farm production. In addition to this, they receive help in identifying barriers they are facing in terms of finding housing, re-entering the job market, personal or family matters, and so on. Through the Farm, they are supported through these challenges.

Nichols refers to the Farm as a “mojo restoration space,” or a space where these women can be supported in working through whatever it is they need. She says that one-on-one development is where the Green Team program shines and being able to learn what these women are empowered and excited by is inspiring. Furthermore, the skills developed while working at the Farm—timeliness, communication, emotion management, and so on—are all skills that can be applied to many aspects of both personal and professional life. Once again living up to their name, Green Phoenix Farm is helping and supporting these women in regaining control over their lives.

Green Phoenix Farm also puts a large emphasis on food security for families on the west end of Salt Lake City, specifically those with a lower income. All food that is grown at the Farm is, first, distributed to the women in the Green Team program and their families and, second, given to low-income families struggling with food insecurity. None of it is sold for profit. Green Phoenix Farm works with nonprofits, such as the Midvale Family Shelter and Neighborhood House, in order to make sure families are getting the food they need. They especially focus on ensuring kids get the good nutrients they require. Having a good, reliable food source is so important for success and development in children. Green Phoenix Farm hopes to provide this.

So, I once again pose the question: what happens when you’ve spent years working to restore a plot of land in order to make a productive, lively garden only to have to move to a new spot and start all over? Well, with the help of the local community and members of the Green Team program, Green Phoenix Farm has proven that any plot of land can be restored and reimagined. And indeed, this can be in a natural, inexpensive way. It can become a space that is both capable of growing a robust garden and helping people grow as humans and members of their community.

Green Phoenix Farm has shown the importance of agriculture in urban areas and how it can bring people together and inspire them to help those in need. By putting an emphasis on human connections, they have created a grounded, supportive space where people can come farm, learn new things, and grow. Like a plant. Get it? Despite having to start from scratch, Green Phoenix Farm has filled a very important niche in the community—like mycorrhizal fungi with plants. Hopefully, as the ideas and model of this farm spread across Salt Lake City, there will be more community gardens like it, allowing for even more good to be harvested.

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Source: https://wasatchmag.com/like-a-phoenix-from-the-garden-bed/