Luckily though, through some connections in class *wink* aka ;) (I can't believe I just did that), we got in contact with a group called The Grain Project.
What the Grain Project is is a non profit organization based out of Santa Ana which in the past hosted and organized a farmer's market. This took a lot of coercion of the city of Santa Ana and its mayor. After they were allowed to conduct their farmer's market the resources and funds didn't cover the cost, so they had to temporarily discontinue it.
This setback led to a new door opening which is a plot of land near Jerome Park (near an elementary school, a senior center, and several apt. complexes) that is a quarter acre in size which is all dirt. From this dirt Dr. Nick Spain and his key volunteer Laura have turned the plot into a community garden. Unlike other urban communal gardens though, this one is not rented or sectioned off to individual plots. The community is able to come tend any crop in the garden and is welcome to eat any of the "fruits of their labor" (see what I did there?).
This has lead to educating the youth of Santa Ana on plants and the growing of those plants. Also it has allowed for the older generations who might have small scale subsistence farmed wherever they lived before immigrating to Santa Ana rejuvenate their past knowledge. A bridge is forming connecting older generations to new ones and the connection to nature is being reborn and stories are being passed down while children can get their hands dirty and farm just like grandma and grandpa did.
We have yet to visit the site, but have seen pictures of the construction and first harvest (they've had the lot since March). It looks very promising, people from all age ranges come to contribute. The Jerome Park Garden is only open on Saturdays, due to lack of volunteers, but hopes to have enough resources to open more often in the future.
We plan to explore the growth of the garden and the community of its participants. Interviews would include The Grain Project administrators, kids, parents, teachers, possibly city council members, and other non-profit organizations. It is definitely a nice story which would develop into good narratives as we do our fieldwork documenting THEIR field work.
1 comment:
I love the Grain Project and I love Tanaka Farms, too. I think that your group might run into some of the same "problems" you've experienced at the Grain Project site, as well. These experiences might make your project turn into something of an environmental dreams v. reality.
Whereas Tanaka is very much established, and it is what it is, agri-tourism, agri-tainment, agricultural education, the Grain Project does seem to have a lot more in the ideals department. However, their community garden is still very much in the beginning phases. It is small and not that many people access it. You might have trouble finding moving/life changing narratives among community members at this stage.
However, there is always a story to be told. So it might just be the story of small hopes and dreams for a city largely forgotten by the rest of Orange County in a neighborhood largely disdained by the rest of Santa Ana.
Some information not on the grain project website has to do with an environmental education program grant being co-written by the Grain Project organization and the non-profit that Donia and I are doing our Master's research with, KidWorks. KidWorks has 2 learning centers in that neighborhood, one on Townsend, a block from Jerome Park and the larger one is up the street about 5 blocks north on Chestnut and Daisy (before 1st street). Their website is: www.kidworksonline.org and I can give you some better contacts if you want to go in that direction at all.
Jessica Steaffens
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