These Ladies are Shovel Ready!

If there was a way that you could feed your family healthy food for only pennies a day, would you be interested?

The downward spiral of the nation’s economy has impacted the quality of life for just about every American. The effect of the recession is being felt in every community. Local companies have been forced to layoff employees and available jobs are scarce. Families used to having their every need provided now have to choose between a sack of potatoes and a loaf of bread. In such a difficult financial climate, fruit and vegetables become an excessive splurge rather than a necessity. Should such an awful and unhealthy cycle be allowed to continue? Not according to a group of local men and women in Taft.

Americans have proven many times over the past century that recessions, depressions, or even wars can not force them to give up. One way citizens have pushed through difficult times is by cultivating edible gardens, also known as victory gardens. Planting vegetables, fruits, and herbs has proven to be a practical answer for those who need food but haven’t the money to spend on non staple items such as tomatoes and green beans.

In the past few months, a group of Taft community members met together to discuss the option of starting a Taft Community Garden. One of these members, Kathy Johnson shared about a meeting of the minds when a group of six men and women met over lunch to discuss the possibility of starting up a community garden in Taft. “Since then, more and more community interest has developed. People are calling with suggestions and offers of help,” says Johnson.

“The idea of a community garden was a result of a meeting last fall between a group of employees from the Resource Center and Taft College,” explains Kathy Johnson, “The purpose of the meeting was to think of ways to help the community’s unemployed and low income families make ends meet.”

The proposed location of the garden is on the 100 block of Harrison Street. Appropriately, the lot used to be the location of a nursery. The lot now belongs to the Water District. On Tuesday evening, March 24, 2009, Kathy Johnson attended the Water District Board meeting to request leasing the lot for the community garden. The board agreed to refer the request to the Water District Staff. They will make the decision to approve leasing the lot at their next meeting in April.

The group putting the community garden project together has been researching community gardens and sources online. Johnson explains that they will be visiting the permaculture farm in Ventucopa called Quail Springs next month. The group has also spoken with those connected with the Delano community garden. Kathy Johnson states “We aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel. We are doing a lot of research and want to glean from other people that have community gardens. We have had very positive feedback from everyone we have talked to in the community so far.”

Taft isn’t alone in breaking ground for community gardens. The first lady, Michelle Obama helped break ground for the first garden at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden during World War II. The first lady said raising vegetables emphasized the importance of healthy eating. The produce will be used in the White House kitchen and the surplus harvest given to local soup kitchens.

Just days after the White House’s victory garden was planted, Maria Shriver, California’s first lady, announced that Sacramento was getting an edible garden too. The garden will be planted in Capital Park in Sacramento. “It will be a demonstration garden to bring awareness to children, students and visitors about the important role of food, where it comes from, nutritional value, how it is grown and harvested, and ultimately how it reaches the tables of those who need it most,” explains Maria Shriver in a statement.

Locally, Bakersfield created a community garden in 2007 at the Martin Luther King Jr., park. The garden is tended by neighborhood children that take part in the after school program at the Martin Luther King Jr., Park and Community Center. The children get to experience the satisfaction of watching a seed grow into a vegetable or fruit, caring for it with their own hands.

The project for the public garden in Taft will be presented to the community at the next Together We Can Collaborative meeting on April 8, at 4 pm, in the Chevron Valley Community Room. “The next step will be to identify areas to work in and give people opportunities to volunteer to work in those areas,” explains Kathy Johnson, “We will also be setting up a large community meeting in the next few weeks.” Anyone interested in volunteering or that has ideas for the community garden, please email [e-mail].