St. LOUIS – There is a new place to get fresh produce in the St. Louis area.
The Carondelet Food Patch is part vegetable garden, part "food forest." The story behind the Food Patch begins about a mile away at a food pantry within the Carondelet Community Betterment Federation.
The pantry, located at 6408 Michigan Avenue, is affiliated with the St. Louis Area Foodbank. It's open Monday and Wednesday mornings from 8:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
"We get nearly 300 people per month," executive director Fred Hessel said.
Like most pantries, the shelves are stocked with canned goods. However, there are also freshly picked vegetables available. That's because, in the backyard, there is a vegetable garden.
"Everyone should have the opportunity to get fresh produce," Hessel said.
Laura Gatlin believes so, too. In fact, the garden inspired her to do some planting of her own. It inspired her to create the Food Patch.
Hessel helped Gatlin scope out some land at Hurck Street and Alabama Avenue.
"We found a lot of land down here that is old flood land," Hessel said.
Once the city leased it out, Gatlin got together with some neighbors and got to work.
"When we got the space, the boxes were already here," Gatlin said. "It was an abandoned community garden."
They're not just growing a new vegetable garden. On land just next door, they're also growing what's called a food forest. A food forest is typically designed like a natural ecosystem. Gatlin and her group plan to plant trees and bushes that will grow nuts and fruit.
Neighbors are welcome to pick whatever is growing.
"A genuine permaculture food forest looks like an actual forest," Gatlin said. "But this is going to have to be, because it's in the City, it will be much more manicured."
Eventually, there will be educational signs to show everyone what’s what.
"To help give her the direction to start the food forest up, it's just amazing," Hessel said.
Gatlin said it will be the first food forest in St. Louis.
"I've met with a few people that are looking to start one in other parts of the city but I think ours will be the first, which is really cool," she said
Neighbors are also welcome to get in on the planting themselves. The group hopes to eventually offer classes to show people what to do.
They also hope this will be a ripple effect, where people in other St. Louis neighborhoods would be inspired to create their own community food forests or vegetable gardens.
