Empowering a community's strength and resilience through gardening.

In This Podcast: If you just can’t help yourself and tend to get involved in your community, then you might be just like James Ross.  He has a natural drive to help others and that often involves community gardens. James shares the story of the first garden he helped build which became quite long after everyone participated.  He also tells what he learned when negotiating leases for the land their gardens occupied.  Overall, the harvests are much greater than just the fruits and vegetables – so maybe there are other gardens around the corner.

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James, a father of five and grandfather of eight, is co-founder of the Quesada “kwe-seda” Gardens Initiative, QGI, a private, non-profit organization focusing on better health and quality of life in Bayview.  He and co-founder Jeffrey Betcher have helped to fund and nurture many community-building efforts; working with other foundations within Bayview Hunters Point to form a support network for the community.

QGI has started two major community gardens, one is a place for people to sit and relax, and the other is a learning garden where community children learn how to grow food from seed to harvest. The initiative also runs a free build-a-backyard garden program called BayBloom.  He now lives in Danville, KY where he has founded 3 community gardens.

Go to www.urbanfarm.org/gardeningwithjames for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.