Empowered Spaces Community Garden Work Day

This is our 4th year of our Empowered Spaces Community Garden. This is a project that—at its roots— is meant to be created and led together. The garden is ours to learn from as we go, building from our different knowledge, skills, and curiosities. 

This season, we aim to deepen our sense of community, foster connections, and create a space where everyone feels supported by adding new ways to experience the garden. 

For those of you new to the Empowered Spaces Community Garden you can learn more here about our mission and our Collaborative Food Share Program with Jamaa Birth Village.

Our Community Garden is currently made up of 6 raised beds, and an orchard of 37 fruit and nut trees, a pollination garden, an herb bed, and a tea garden on the grounds.

Here are some highlights of our new offerings:

1. Yoga in the Garden: Jessie Kissinger (she/her) will be offering a 30 minute yoga class in the garden at 8:30am before our Saturday work days throughout the season. Join us early to flow together before we garden. 

2. Community Garden Projects: once a month, I will lead a group project at the end of the work day for all ages to learn a specific gardening skill. In April, we will learn how to grow potatoes in buckets and members should be able to take a bucket home to grow their own potatoes. Stay tuned for more information.

3. Seeds of Connection: We’ll be introducing a “Seeds of Connection” box where members can exchange seeds, stories, and gardening resources. This symbolic gesture represents the interconnectedness of our community, just like the seeds we plant in our shared soil.

4. Exploration Table: every work day, an exploration table will be available for anyone who would like to experience the garden in a different way. We will have different books and activities available for all ages to enjoy the garden. 

5. Tea Garden: we will finish the tea garden project we originally started this fall. Our vision for this area of the garden is for members to be able to come and pick herbs anytime on their own to enjoy in a fresh cup of tea. Chamomile, bee balm, anise hyssop are just a few herbs that will be available for u-pick. 

6. Monthly newsletter with a different monthly gardening theme: If you have resources or tips that you’d like to share to the group, please feel free to reach out and I’ll be sure to include your tips in the next newsletter. 

7. In The Garden Workshop Series: We will continue our In The Garden Workshop series - stay tuned to learn about this seasons upcoming workshops.

Our current plan for what and when we plan to plant:

April: collards, spinach, potatoes, herbs, tea garden, flowers

May: tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, okra, green beans, watermelon, herbs, flowers, seminole pumpkins/fall squash

July/August: carrots, beets, swiss chard, arugula (all for fall harvest) 

Monthly Resources

Here are some of my favorite resources to help plan your own garden. 

Seed STL spring crops and garden planning

Seed STL Gardening 101 class

The Suburban Micro-Farm: Modern Solutions for Busy People (suburbanmicrofarm.com)

How the Co-Op Works

To join the co-op:

1. Sign up with a self-determined sliding-scale annual membership fee. Register here.

2. Commit to contributing 4 hours of volunteer work in the garden per month (see below for details on our Collaborative Food Share Program with Jamaa).

3. In return, all members will receive a weekly basket of fresh produce during growing seasons.

The majority of the produce will be donated to the expectant women of color and families served through Jamaa Birth Village’s comprehensive Equal Access Midwifery Clinic (EAMC).

Those in a position to give more hours and/or funds are also welcome to sponsor additional baskets that go directly to families served through the EAMC in need of fresh produce.

By being a member of the Garden Co-Op you will:

1)     Learn about and participate in organic urban gardening

2)     Participate in community organizing and activism through locally-based partnerships and programs

3)     Attend free programs around the garden (virtually or in the garden when it’s safe) that explore integrative justice driven approaches to embodiment, mental health, and wellness, both individually and collectively

4)     Participate in community in ways that recognize differentials of power and privilege, tied to differences such as race, class, gender, and sexuality

Collaborative Food Share Program at Jamaa Birth Village and Empowered Spaces

This our 4th year of collaboration between Jamaa Birth Village in Ferguson and Empowered Spaces--a partnership we've been working on for some time. Tru Kellman, the Founder and Executive Director, is doing transformational work in St. Louis, and is a leader in combating racial and health inequities. 

Our mission is to provide accessible organic produce and herbs to the expectant clients and families of color served through Jamaa's Equal Access Midwifery Clinic (EAMC), as well as to the wider community that comes together through this partnership. The EAMC provides wrap-around perinatal care to low-income expectant women and families of color in North City.

Join us in this mission and in creating more of the world we want to see!