Urban gardens taking root

Growing fresh produce doesn’t necessarily take acres of farmland. Given a small plot or a patio and some spare time, healthy and fresh foods can become much more readily available even in the hustle and bustle of cities.

Larger metropolitan areas are often viewed as a “food desert,” meaning there is a lack of produce easily grown in a garden such as lettuce, tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers and squash. Recently, community-supported urban agriculture has started growing once again in Birmingham thanks to the local green thumbs. 

Local gardener Hank Layman said he is hoping to help with the produce shortage with his new project, Oasis Gardens, in Ensley.

“When I was a kid, I liked to plant things. I brought bushes, flowers and tree saplings home from trips to Mobile and planted them in my yard in Ensley,” Layman said.

While the free, open-air community garden is still being built, Layman understands the significance of small-scale farming, even in a city. “It takes a lot of produce to feed a community the size of Birmingham,” he said.

With his garden, which was donated by A.G. Callins from a former parking lot behind 615 19th St., Layman is working to reinvent the farm and provide the Ensley community with the opportunity to have access to its own local produce.

“I grew up in Ensley and went to school there,” he said. “When I retired, I wanted to do something to give back somewhere. I realized that Ensley and much of western Birmingham is a food desert, so I began to work on a plan.”

Being in a food desert, community members are more easily affected by a poor diet, which can result in hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Layman acknowledges these complications and that there is an aging population in his hometown, so he sees this garden as a way to provide the neighborhood with healthier food options within a reasonable distance. 

Through this urban sanctuary, he also wants to encourage more gardening and to use his garden to BEFREE, or to “Benefit, Enrich and Feed the Residents of Ensley and Environs.” His garden will then have the potential to have a positive effect on the community in many different areas.

“There’s an increasing interest in ‘farm-to-table’ food preparation. Urban gardening provides locally sourced food directly to the consumer as well as local chefs,” Layman said. By keeping the foods local, consumers and farmers are able to cut out the middle distributor and connect on an economical level. 

Many farmers markets have sprouted up with this in mind, and even students of Birmingham are able to grow and sell their own produce. 

Together with the Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Avondale Elementary School hosts a weekly farmers market where students sell the vegetables they have grown to their local neighborhood. 

“The students fill every role from accountant and inventory manager to salesperson and marketing lead,” said Maria Dominique Villanueva, Good School Food instructor for Avondale Elementary. “They also harvest a good amount of the produce they sell directly from the Farm Lab, so the connection between locally grown produce and local business is clear to them.”

The Ministry of Independent Presbyterian Churches also noticed the significance of the urban farming experience when they created the Children’s Fresh Air Farm in 1923.

“My ministry focuses on urban kids, and for urban kids to be able to get outside and be safe is of incredible importance,” said Gini Williams of Children’s Fresh Air Farm. 

The farm, which hosts a day camp every summer for underprivileged children, provides education in reading, math and the environment.

“Morning is academics, and afternoon is rotating around more camp activities [like gardening],” Williams said. “To pick a fruit and eat a fruit, it’s such an odd concept [to these kids].” 

Other urban farms in Birmingham include the East Lake community garden, Urban Ministry’s community garden that feeds West End Community Cafe and the Woodlawn High School Urban Farm, which is also part of Jones Valley.

Layman said he is hoping to continue the theme of education for both school-aged children and the general community as his oasis grows. 

With a preschool directly across from the gardens, he is planning to offer a raised garden bed to the children and to develop a lesson plan to educate the preschoolers and create a Master Gardener course to teach the public. 

“For one thing, it’s important to be in touch with the soil and the earth. Gardening is strenuous, sometimes difficult and occasionally frustrating, but it’s always rewarding when your crops come in,” Layman said. “Urban gardening is becoming an increasingly important aspect of urban life in this country.”