The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s USDA newest People’s Garden at the Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County NHS Center for Sustainable Communities CSC, in Compton, Calif., on Oct., 21, 2022. The People’s' Garden was formally dedicated during a ribbon cutting ceremony on October 5, 2022.

Located in the heart of Compton, and maintains a community engagement team that manages the garden and have decades of community garden experience. The CSC is part of the ongoing work of NHS. The garden serves a community that is typically considered a food desert. The triangular space is open to the public and consists of raised beds of fruit, vegetables and flowers, a small orchard and a demonstration garden of natural drought tolerant tall grasses, trees and uses organic and inorganic mulch. Community members from the nearby community center, park and residential neighborhoods are invited to take a stroll through the open garden and pick their own produce at their leisure. The garden is regularly harvested and donated to local families, seniors and other organizations who distribute healthy foods. The CSC project began in 2014. USDA Natural Resources and Conservation Service NRCS helped with the high tunnel and some irrigation management practices.

 

NHS serves as a catalyst for residents, businesses, and government representatives to work together and build stronger neighborhoods, improve the quality of life for low to moderate income families and revitalize communities into neighborhoods of choice.

 

 

For more information about the People's Garden, please go to usda.gov/peoples-garden.

 

For more information about the USDA high tunnel initiative, please go to nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/eqip-high-tunnel-initiative.

 

USDA Media by Lance Cheung.