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In The Press
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St. Louis KSDK Channel 5 News
July 26, 2004
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LaVista Community Garden Grows More Fans
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Created: 7/26/2004 5:06PM
By Ann Rubin
(KSDK) - In Godfrey, Illinois, some locals are taking a new approach to farming. They pay, they help, and they reap the benefits.
Really, nothing about this farm is typical. It is smaller, more diverse, and even the farmers here look different. LaVista is a Community Supported Garden, and so far, they've had no shortage of support.
They've grown from 65 participating families last year, to 100 this year. Gary Huelsmann brings his twin 9 year olds out to pick up produce each week.
Huelsmann says they love it, "You cannot get a vegetable at the supermarket that tastes anything like, even remotely like, the vegetables we get out here."
Twins Mariah and Chloe say, "Cool. It's cool. We get to have a lot of good food. We get to be in nature."
The farm sits on the grounds of a seminary in Godfrey. It is the brainchild of
Father Maurice Lange, "With this project, folks are able to know where their food comes from, they know how it's being grown, and they know the farmer that's growing it."
Amy Cloud, head farmer, does most of the planning, the planting, and the heavy lifting of this produce, "It doesn't travel a thousand miles like produce
in grocery stores do, just like a thousand feet if that."
How much each family gets depends on how much the harvest yields on a given day. Cloud says the families understand the yield will fluctuate. The
farm grows more than 65 varieties of vegetables along with strawberries, melons and flowers. They ripen over a span of 27 weeks.
It costs about $500 to become a shareholder, and shareholders are
expected to volunteer their time three hours a month.
LaVistaCSA Community Supported Garden is already booked for this year but they are taking applications for next year.
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