It’s time to plant turnip greens in the garden, Charity Kennedy said. A home gardener for more than 20 years, she said turnip greens are a very popular harvest item for those looking for healthy and homegrown food.
“We have spring, summer and fall,” Kennedy said. “I’m getting ready to do the fall stuff – the greens, the broccoli, the cauliflower, kale.”
What is most endearing about this garden is where it is located – not in a backyard, or a farmers’ market or even a curbside fresh produce stand. It is in the middle of a medical facility – the Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers on Delmar in St. Louis.
Additionally, the garden is seeded, tilled and toiled with love, by People’s employees. They volunteer to water and tend to vegetables and flowers – led by the green thumb and infectious smile of Kennedy, who works in housekeeping at PHC. She is joined in the garden cultivation by PHC employees Johnny Carter, Floyd Sims and Director of Dental Services Dr. Karen Richardson.
“I’ve been doing gardening for a long time … helping my grandmother, and I missed it as she passed away – just going out there picking the fresh items from the garden” Kennedy said.
Gateway Greening helps support the work of PHC for the garden.
“It is funded just from the staff and administration here at People’s Health Center,” said Mark Sanford, executive vice president. “We also receive a small grant annually from Gateway Greening, that helps us sometimes with the tools, or the seeds and the flowers that we get.”
PHC nutritionists determine what they should grow.
“They grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, greens, cabbage and a little bit of kitchen herbs,” Sanford said, like rosemary and thyme.
“When we harvest our products, then we offer it to our WIC clients,” Richardson said.
Mothers who participate in WIC, the Women Infant and Children nutritional program, receive the vegetables and fruit grown at the garden as a free food supplement for their children and families, as well as other PHC clients with interest and need.
“They work with clients – they promote nutrition and they work with the clients to help with preparation of dishes, and then it’s also offered to any of the patients who need it,” Richardson added.
“If the social workers identify a need with any of the clients, then they can access some of the vegetables,” Sanford added.
Kennedy estimates they harvest about a hundred pounds or more of fresh produce each year. This is the fourth year for the garden.
“They just love it. They walk around the clinic, looking and they’re just standing in the glass window watching – saying ‘Ooh, this is just beautiful garden – can I have some?’”
The beautiful impatiens that line the garden are an aesthetic touch.
“We do the flowers just as an addition to the garden,” Dr. Richardson said. “Our purpose is to promote health, healthy lifestyles, good nutrition … ambiance. It stimulates – attitude is very important, so we want to have a pleasing environment.”
Youngsters are fascinated by the garden.
“The kids – they stare and look and it’s exciting to them to see the flowers grow and the vegetables,” Kennedy said.
“It’s good for the kids to see that tomatoes are on vines and cucumbers,” Richardson said.
The garden has also been a location for student community service.
“We’ve had some eighth-graders – some youth who have come in to help manage the garden,” Sanford said. “At one point we had about 30 of them from the City of St. Louis that came through and helped us clean things every year.”
“At the same time, they understood a little bit better about where food and vegetables come from, and what they look like,” he added.
Kennedy said. “I want people to remember to learn how to eat healthy from the different vegetables we have in the garden and I always remember that I’m out here and the rest of us are out here helping in the garden.”
Sanford added, “It’s part of our larger scope in keeping people healthy and we are the custodians of our community’s health.”
