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Americana broke ground on a community garden in the spring of 2006. The gardeners that utilize the individual plots come from all over the world: Bosnia to the Congo to Vietnam.

Watching growers working side by side without a shared language or culture, communicating through their care for the land is an amazing sight. Many of our growers come from parts of the world where subsistence gardening is a way of life. For these members of the community, now resettled in the urban areas of Louisville with little or no green space of their own, the garden at Americana is a resource for improved diet, well-being, a chance to connect within their community, and an opportunity to regain a former way of life.

A rain garden was added in 2008, designed and installed to capture rainwater from the building’s roof and prevent it from entering the city’s sewers. The garden was built by eight immigrant and refugee youths from Bosnia, Croatia, Congo, Haiti, Liberia and Somalia. The youths were included in every phase, from design to installation and maintenance of plants. During this project, students learned the importance of proper planning, coordination, and “big picture” thinking.

The Americana Community Garden is linked to our other programs for the community. Our Community Garden Program involves about 15 families from the Americana community. Growers from these families purchase a plot in the garden for a reasonable fee that is theirs to work for the entire growing season. Growers not only grow produce in their plots but also attend monthly trainings related to organic gardening, health and environmental issues as part of the program. They also gather to prepare and share a few meals during the growing season and volunteer several hours of their time to keep the Community Garden grounds in good shape.

Another program utilizing our gardens is youth programming. Americana offers year-round youth programming to school-age children, including our After School and Summer Programs. Gardening activities are offered for interested youth in-season. The goal is one activity or lesson to be offered per week at the end of the After School program and throughout the Summer Program. In 2009-2010, ninety-five children participated in gardening activities, including learning about plant structure and the environmental benefits of plants, transplanting plants into the Kids’ Garden, and playing age-appropriate games that dealt with ecologically friendly living.

The third program utilizing the gardens is our Family Education program. This program works with refugee and immigrant families to support education and successful community inte- gration of the entire family.

The Family Education Program serves as an avenue for parents and children to be engaged together in a healthy and creative way. Family Education has had two small plots where they were able to grow some of their own food and bases a few lessons around food growth and preparation. This year, we tilled a 40 foot by 25 foot plot for these adults and their children to delve deeper into the production, preparation and perhaps sale of organic fruits and vegetables.

Last, but not least, there is our Youth Work Crew, a program targeting at-risk youth. Youths admitted to the program work in the gardens during the summer to learn skills, responsibility, and financial literacy, with a focus on landscaping projects, environmental issues, and community gardening. We have already witnessed the maturation of the youth involved as they demonstrate their new skills and growing ability to work together.

In 2011, the project this year included nine refugee youth between the ages of 16-18 years old. For nine weeks over their summer break, the Youth Work Crew worked 25 hours a week to beautify the Americana Community Center, grow vegetables, and learn about to agriculture, landscaping, and the environment. Mornings began with group discussion of a peaceful world leader, followed by a lesson on the environment, agriculture, landscaping, or gardening. During the last few weeks of the program, the Youth Work Crew began teaching the hour-long Kids’ Garden class for the Americana summer youth program participants – younger children who looked up to these older youths from their community – about what they had learned working in the garden.

The Ameircana Community Garden enhances our community by:

• Inexpensive source of high quality produce for low income residents
• Reduces the incidence of hunger in our community
• Improves out environment
• Eases stresses of acculturation for immigrants and refugees
• Improves cross-cultural communication
• Improves mental and physical well being
• Gives individuals a sense of purpose
• Provides a constructive activity for whole families to engage in