Houston’s Fifth Ward Community Garden and Food Co-op

Houston — Since the March 14, 2010 tilling of the land at 3707 Brill Street in Houston’s Fifth Ward and subsequent planting of seeds and nursing the garden, it will not be long before neighbors in this African neighborhood will be reaping what they sow.

The Fifth Ward Community Garden and Food Co-op is a project of the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project (AAPDEP). It is worked by the membership of the local Houston AAPDEP chapter, along with community members. They have planted rows and are committed to work collectively for the upkeep and maintenance of the garden.

The garden which consists of 38 rows (60 feet long) is growing an assortment of tomatoes, mustard greens, collard greens, squash, watermelons, corn, okra, peas, beans, lettuce, peppers, cantaloupe, onions, potatoes, spinach, reddish and other vegetables.

The garden is funded by neighborhood contributions and AAPDEP fundraisers at Minute Maid Park where the Houston Astros play professional baseball.

The organizers of the garden intend for this project to develop into a serious food co-op along with a black community flea market. (Houston has the largest African community in the South, but does not have a single African Flea Market).

But as AAPDEP’s flyer states, “There is an old saying, ‘A thousand miles journey begins with the first step.’ This community garden, food co-op and flea market is our first step here in Houston toward our ‘thousand miles journey.’ As we continue to make the steps, we will complete our journey.

“We will be able to provide good, healthy, nutritious vegetables to our community and generate economic institutions through the food co-op and flea markets. That will provide incomes and jobs in our mission to work for self-determination for our people. Self-determination only means doing for ourselves.

“Once a week we go to food banks and stand in line for second class vegetables and food. But with the Fifth Ward Community Garden and Food Co-op we will be harvesting and eating our own food in three months. With the many, many vacant and abandoned lots in our community, our potential is limitless.”