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[guitar music playing]

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just three months ago this land was not

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utilized by people. It had weeds so high

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you couldn't walk through it, and today it

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is a thriving, abundant garden where

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black, indigenous, and people of color

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can come together, grow community, and

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grow food and medicine.

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The community garden started in my dreams

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a few years ago, and I was finally able to

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realize it a couple months ago when we

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broke ground on this property.

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[guitar music playing]

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The BIPOC Community Garden is a small

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garden that I've put in right in my side

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yard. It is a place for the BIPOC

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community in my area to come and be able

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to garden. Most of the beds are communal

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beds, so we are growing a lot of

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vegetables and herbs. Folks can come in,

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they can help tend, they can harvest,

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they can make medicine,

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and then we have a few beds that are

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individually stewarded. So folks who want

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to have the whole experience of planting

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the seed, planning the graden, tending it,

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they have the opportunity to do that here

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with a bed as well.

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We have a community herb-drying shed.

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It houses our tool lending library,

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a lending library of books related to

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herbalism, and a library of medicine-

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making supplies. So if folks come to the

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garden, and they do not have any tools,

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or anything to make medicine with,

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everything is in the shed for them.

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It is also a place where folks can dry

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herbs, so if they grow something in the

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garden, such as a bunch of mint, and they

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are like "oh, I would love to have this

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over the winter so I can have tea," they

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can harvest the mint here and put it on

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the drying racks. It will dry beautifully

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for them and then they can take it home

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and have tea for the winter.

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The garden is the

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Jane Minor BIPOC Community Medicine Garden

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and it is named after an amazing herbalist

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and healer, Jane Minor, who was enslaved

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in Virginia. In 1825, a fever epidemic

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swept through Virginia. She was so skilled

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that she not only healed other Black folks

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but her enslaver enlisted her to heal

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white folks as well. Because she was so

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adept at that and so many people got

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better where everywhere else folks were

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dying, they granted her her freedom.

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She did not stop there! She kept working

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as an herbalist and healer, saved up her

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money, and was able to purchase the

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freedom of sixteen other enslaved folks.

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The inspiration to create the garden was

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to be able to have a space where BIPOC

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folks could access the land.

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That is a really big challenge for a lot

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of folks nationwide but even in my

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community where there is not a lot of free

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land access. I also wanted to create

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this space to be a safe spot for BIPOC

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folks. I wanted this to be an outdoor

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sanctuary where people can really feel

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like themselves, feel safe, and be able to

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connect with the earth.

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The garden is just

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such an amazing place of connection. It is

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a place where folks can really reclaim

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their connection to the earth. Lots of

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folks have been disconnected from the

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land. Just having a space where you can

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put your hands in the earth, and get to

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understand the cycles of the plants, and

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the seasons and how the light changes as

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we move through the year, that all just

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helps to connect you to the land, to the

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seasons, and I think to yourself. Your own

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innate rhythms that we have been

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disconnected from. It is also a beautiful

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place of community connection. Folks are

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coming out to garden together, and then

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they make medicine together or go for a

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swim together and it builds these

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beautiful friendships. It is a way to tap

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into something that is bigger than

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yourself. Earth is the source of

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everything. It is our life, it is our food

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it is our medicine, it is our clothing, it

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is our housing, so just being able to

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touch that is really magical and I think

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brings people home to themselves.

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[guitar and piano music playing]

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One thing that a lot of folks have

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mentioned is that this is their happy

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space, this is a place where they can

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feel totally themselves and feel safe

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because it is a sanctuary. It is a place

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that was created by folks of color for

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folks of color and that we are navigating

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through a lot of white-dominated spaces in

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our day-to-day life, and it is just nice

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to be able to come to a space where it is

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just your community. It helps us to

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breathe a little bit. People also are

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growing vegetables, so they are getting

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good food to eat. They are growing plants

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for medicine, so they are also able to

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harvest and make medicine. 2020 has been

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such an intense year, there has been so

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much trauma and pain that we have all

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experienced, and folks have been able to

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come here and let go of that for a moment,

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and that is such a gift. There is no

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community garden without community.

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Absolutely not. When I came here and I was

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like "Oh, I have a yard, I can have a

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garden! Oh great, I can grow this and I

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can grow that! But wait... that feels like

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something is missing. If I have this

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opportunity, I want the community to have

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this opportunity." And because I opened

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up this space for other people, that also

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opened up the community to want to

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support it, so it has been a really

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beautiful coming together.

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In just three months it went from

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six-foot-high overgrown brush

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to all of these amazing beds

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and really without a lot of work. We used

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a tarp which was great so we did not have

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to bring in machinery to cut things down

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or to till a bunch of times. After the

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tarp came up, the neighbor came in with

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their tractor and they tilled just once,

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and then I had a work party. Fifteen folks

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came out and we got all the beds made

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in a few hours. We planted the beds over

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the next couple weeks and then we have

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just been weeding and mulching.

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[guitar music playing]

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It is also I think really helpful for

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folks to see the scale of this, to see

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that "I could totally do this in my yard

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as well. I do not have to have

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a bunch of acres, I do not have to even

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live in the country. You can

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turn any plot of earth into a beautiful

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abundant garden." It is all right there,

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it is such a huge potential, we can not

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continue to rely on big agriculture and

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monocropping and the degenerative ways

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in which food is grown. I feel like there

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is so much potential and land that can be

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turned into flourishing gardens for

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community. Do not be intimidated! It is

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something you can do just in a yard. You

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can do it literally in just one bed if you

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live in a city. Even if you have a porch,

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you can have a community garden of potted

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plants. There is no limit to where you can

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do this, you can absolutely do this
anywhere.

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It is about community though, so make sure

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you connect with your community, see

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what is needed, see what is wanted, see

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how a garden can serve folks, and then

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just do it!

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[music playing]