Storage units. Fences spiked with barbed wire. Parked cars. A lush garden abundant with greens.
The most distinctive thing about Community CROPS (Combining Resources, Opportunities, and People for Sustainability) may be its rural gardens in the midst of the city of Lincoln.
Ingrid Kirst, executive director of Community CROPS, says she wants to help Lincolnites grow food right in town. “Our mission statement,” she says, “is to help families to grow food for themselves in the community.”
The main office and adjacent garden are cozily tucked away just a couple turns off a big, citified viaduct on South 2nd Street.
There are 15 gardens all around town where anyone can raise their own produce. Kirst asks that participants pay $10 a year for the use of the land if they can afford it.
To-be green thumbs don’t even have to bring anything. “They show up, and they’ve got the tools, seeds, plants right there,” Kirst said.
There are 170 families involved, and 500 to 600 participants total. Low-income families, immigrants, refugees and college students are among those who take advantage of the gardens.
Russ Headlee, a senior agricultural economics major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is one college student who works for the company under an AmeriCorps contract.
“There were weeds growing around this garden. I whacked them with a sickle,” he said.
He’s a self-proclaimed “five-year-old child on the farm.”
“The first time I saw broccoli growing, I was amazed,” he said.
Headlee works with Community CROPS to gain knowledge in the field that will be useful for his major. “That was my initial attraction to CROPS, (to) learn those new things,” he said.
Community CROPS also offers a farm program for those who want to grow larger amounts of food. Land and training are provided so aspiring farmers can grow vegetables and livestock for market.
Farmers raise their produce and livestock at Sunset Community Farm (4000 West F Street), just on the edge of Lincoln.
Recruitment for the farm program begins in the fall with classes in the winter.
Participants will take marketing and sales classes, devise a business plan and develop planting, financial and yield records. Most of all, they get to practice farming.
“The eventual goal is that someone can grow on their own land,” Kirst said.
June through September, Community CROPS has its own farmers market at Pentzer Park (two blocks north of 27th and Holdrege). The hours are 4:30 to 7:30. They are the only farmers market in the state to accept food stamps.
“That’s kind of a unique thing about it,” Kirst said.
They also sell goods at the Old Cheney Road Farmers’ Market, Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Diners at local eateries Dish, Wilderness Ridge, and Pepe’s Bistro can find produce from CROPS’s gardens on their plates.
“The biggest thing is we’re working to increase the amount of food grown in Lincoln … It’s all about increasing nutrition,” Kirst said. “It’s also good for people to know it’s open to anyone.”
tomhelberg@dailynebraskan.com
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