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For those of us who live in apartments, having a house plant can bring a little bit of nature into our living space but if you are craving a more involved garden experience, there are alternatives.

Most major cities have community gardening programs where for a small annual fee, you can get a plot of your very own, as we will find out in this episode of Zen living.

Natalie: This is Emily Neiman of the Sustainable Food Center. Hi Emily!

Emily: Hi!

Natalie: I want to talk to you a little about the Sustainable Food Center and its mission.

Emily: Our mission is to create a food secure community by improving access to healthy, affordable, local food.

Natalie: Is this place, I can come in here and get all the tools that I need for gardening and all of the different fertilizers?

Emily: This particular community garden, the Alamo Community Garden, it costs $50.00 for the whole year and part of that goes towards the community tools. We have a tool shed so everything is here. People usually get their own seeds and plants although many of the gardeners share those resources.

Scott Dubois: I was kind of looking for a spot that would be permanent that I could work at because I have been moving around town a little bit. I was always attracted to the idea of having other people help me out of my garden.

Steven Hebbard: I feel like the benefits of community gardening are primarily for me is as a novice coming and not having a clue about gardening that I can talk to the other guys and girls that works at the garden here. And they can tell me exactly when it is good to harvest and then when it is good to wait. They can give me a clue on all of the things that I have got no idea about. I come about three times a week, mostly come to admire what has happened. It amazes me and I never was introduced to gardening before. I see that it is grown a foot in two weeks and it just blows me away that this happens whenever I am not watching, whenever I am not watering, when I am not doing anything else.

Natalie: So can you tell me a little bit about the composting process?

Emily: Yes, that is the whole reason why we eat fruits and vegetables because they are full of nutrients, right? And so, whenever you take the banana peel or the egg shell, that also has nutrients in it. You do not want to send those nutrients to the landfill. You want to return them to the soil so you can grow more food.

Yes, this is our organic garden so we do not use pesticides in this garden—chemical pesticides. Some people use like some sprays made out of hot peppers and garlic that try to deter the pest away but usually, we just try to keep a balance with the insects here where there are both good bugs and bad bugs.

Natalie: And what becomes of the harvest?

Emily: Most of the gardeners grow food here for their personal use so they take it back to their kitchen. Although I would say probably 100% of gardeners always have excess food to share with friends, family, neighbors, food banks, and the seniors.

Natalie: Well, that is really nice, so you can give back a little to your community too.

Scott Dubois: One of the stuff I grow, I give to my friends, my family. I just take in a bunch of tomatoes at work and sort kind of snack on those all day.

Steven Hebbard: I take it home and try to figure out some recipe that can incorporate that vegetable into whatever I like to eat. And so I am trying to bridge my former diet and my new diet, and try to create some sort of new hodgepodge organic mix.

Cedar Stevens: I have so many tomatoes that I had to put a notice up on my neighborhood lister and ask my neighbors to come in and get tomatoes, and boy! They sure went for it.

Natalie: So how did this place come into a distance and how can we form other gardens in our communities?

Emily: First of all, there is a need in this community. Many people around this area have shady yards or might live in apartments. And so they all just came together and they found the open site that they get plot of lands and decided to all go together to grow food in it.

Scott Dubois: The hardest part ca

For those of us who live in apartments, having a house plant can bring a little bit of nature into our living space but if you are craving a more involved garden experience, there are alternatives. Most major cities have community gardening programs where for a small annual fee, you can... click to read more