On a quiet corner near downtown Durham, great things are happening. Fresh, nutritious food is being grown to share with neighbors in need. Community members come together to work the soil and tend what’s growing. Knowledge is provided to help others become skilled at growing their own gardens and cooking healthy on a budget. Strangers become friends and lives are changed for the better, all on the quarter-acre lot of Geer Street Learning Garden.
The community garden of Inter-Faith Food Shuttle in Durham has been in operation since 2014. On property provided by Reinvestment Partners, Geer Street Learning Garden has space for twelve vegetable beds, five community garden beds, fruit trees, an outdoor kitchen, a small greenhouse, three beehives, a vermicompost system, a perennial rain garden, a pollinator garden and areas for community gatherings. The Garden shares its harvest through regular distributions to Emanuel Tabernacle Holiness Church, Iglesia Presbiteriana Emanuel, and Southlight Healthcare. Last year, the Garden harvested 1,736 pounds of produce from its quarter acre lot.
Pastor Goldie Harper of Emanuel Tabernacle Holiness Church values the connection her community has formed with Geer Street. The Garden provides fresh produce to Emanuel Tabernacle Holiness Church for their food pantry distribution every two weeks. Pastor Harper says that the produce makes a big difference to the families her church serves because of the health benefits it provides. “A lot of our clients don’t have access to fresh produce. Some of them come specifically for the fresh produce. They love the variety, and they love the freshness, and they love the availability.” The food pantry serves 25-50 families on average every other Thursday. “Geer Street provides us with the freshest produce. One day you pick it, the next day you serve it, so it has all the nutrients. When you eat healthy, you are healthy.” Pastor Harper participated in the recent Seed To Supper beginner gardening program presented at Geer Street, and says it makes a big difference—especially in today’s economy--when one knows how to grow one’s own food.
Mikey Cristiano and Pastor Goldie Harper
Jessica Ferrall is an avid proponent of growing one’s own food. She has had a community garden bed at Geer Street for the last two years, and volunteers at the Garden once a week. When asked what brings her to the Garden, she says it’s “meditative, and provides a sense of community.” She also just likes the curiosity involved with making things grow, especially “the trial-and-error part.” Jessica, who works in clinical research, is grateful for the wealth of gardening knowledge she’s gained from Mikey Cristiano, the Community Garden Coordinator at Geer Street. Her well-tended garden bed is currently growing a lovely crop of tomatoes, peppers, kale, herbs, and marigolds.
Community Gardener Jessica Ferrall
Jessica’s Community Garden bed
Currently, the Food Shuttle’s Community Health Education program is teaching Cooking Matters classes at Geer Street Learning Garden on Tuesday evenings. The six-week course, which focuses on cooking healthy meals on a budget, are presented using the Charlie Cart mobile kitchen, with recipes that incorporate fresh produce harvested from the Geer Street garden. A new class will begin at the Raleigh community garden, Camden Street Learning Garden, on July 12. To sign up, email CHE@FoodShuttle.org.
Geer Street Learning Garden has volunteer sessions each Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Anyone who is interested in spending some time in this little horticultural oasis in downtown Durham can sign up, as an individual or as a group, here.