Garden Opening Helps Neighborhood Grow New Future

Emily Paulson, coordinator at the Campus Kitchen at Gonzaga University, planned for the sunny opening of her on-campus garden in late April. When unpredictable weather patterns kept attendance low, Paulson and her student leaders found a way to celebrate their garden regardless, by giving back to the community.

“We saw snow, hail, rain, high winds – it was freezing cold,” said Paulson of the April 21 event in Spokane, Wash.

The garden party, which gathered only a handful of visitors, turned into a short garden tour, and then a circle of wishing, where every participant had a chance to voice a wish for the garden.

“My wish was that this garden will not only provide food for the people in Spokane, but also bring students who were not previously interested in the Campus Kitchen into our work,” said Paulson.

In addition to the already planted raspberries, strawberries, and garlic, Paulson said her team will plant carrots, lettuce, onions, and zuchinni once the climate warms. The team also planted and hoped to sell tomato starts at the event, but a lack of attendees left them with too many tomato plants to keep in their own garden.

Paulson followed a friend’s advice and donated the tomato starts to Riverfront Farms, an urban farming initiative in Spokane’s West Central Neigborhood. Paulson said the neighborhood, considered the poorest in the state with 75 percent of children having at least one parent incarcerated, used to house three abandoned lots filled with junk and garbage.

Project Hope Spokane, which runs Riverfront Farms, cleaned it up – adding a garden and a place for the neighborhood to grow its future.

“This is a neighborhood that just desperately needs something like that,” said Paulson. “I was so impressed and so happy to share our tomato starts with the garden.”

Paulson said the children who participate in Riverfront’s programs will watch the tomato plants grow and them sell their bounty at the local farmers' markets, with all of the proceeds going back to the neighborhood.

Continuing the relationship with Riverfront farms – after a flopped garden opening led to an opportunity for greater impact – is especially important to Paulson as Andrew Larson, a cook for Sodexo dining services at Gonzaga University, serves as Board President for Project Hope Spokane.

Paulson said Larson, also a former resident of the neighborhood, believes the children in West Central don’t have a lot of supervision, so someone has to look after them.

Now, the Campus Kitchen at Gonzaga University's tomatoes will help feed their future.