(PUEBLO, Colo.) — Did you know there are five different gardens across Pueblo where you can go and pick your own vegetables for free?
Access to fresh food can be a privilege, but thanks to the Pueblo Food Project, people who perhaps don’t have a car to get to a grocery store or are on a fixed income can visit one of the several edible landscapes around the city, and take some produce home to their families.
“We can find arugula, daikon radishes, bok choy. We’ve got some tomatoes and peppers growing. Of course, in Pueblo we’re all very enthusiastic about our chile peppers,” said Allison Rea, community garden coordinator.
Rea is the guardian of the gardens, and top taste tester.
“Vegetables, they’re practically a luxury product in some of these neighborhoods. And also in my neighborhood, when I was growing up,” Rea said.
But she and the Pueblo Food Project are working to change that.
“I grew up in a food-insecure household, and so while we always had enough calories because like cheap carbs and corn syrup and sugar and processed wheat, those were never really hard to find. What was hard to find was meat and vegetables,” Rea said.
“Some folks might remember that there used to be an Albertsons on the east side of Pueblo that closed down in 2017, when Safeway and Albertsons merged. And so now the whole east side of Pueblo is a food desert, which is unfortunate when you have families who can’t get in the car and can’t drive many miles to access food,” said Pueblo Food Project program manager, Serena Sakkal.
That’s where the four community gardens and five edible landscapes around the city come into play.
“So behind me, is technically an edible landscape. Anyone can come in and harvest the food, ” said Sakkal.
Produce grown at the community gardens is donated to food pantries or the local soup kitchen. Anyone is welcome to volunteer to get their hands dirty, while filling their bellies with locally grown food.
Community Gardens:
La Familia Community Garden, 5th and Hudson
Ray Aguilera Community Garden, Lake Ave near the Fire Station
Midway Community Garden, 110 Midway Drive
Steelworks Museum, 215 Canal St.
Bethany Lutheran Church, 1802 Sheridan Road
If you would like to learn more about joining a community garden or becoming a volunteer, click here.
Edible Landscapes:
Mineral Palace – Edible Landscape, Mineral Palace Park
Central Plaza – Edible Landscape, Central Plaza / First and Main St.
Sunset Park – Edible Landscape, 110 University Cir
JJ Raigoza Park – Edible Landscape, 600 Maryland Ave
“I thought, if I can help people in my neighborhood, which does not have any grocery stores, to have a place where they can grow their own food and where they can come and harvest their own fresh produce, then they would grow up in a world that was slightly better than the one that I came into,” Rea said.
