Granddaddy’s Garden Spot, an educational agriculture project sponsored by nonprofit Young and Established, is nearing completion on Evansville’s south side. Courtney Johnson, Y&E founder and executive director, said the garden on the property that once belonged to his grandfather aims to address the area’s food access issue.
“I knew that it was a food desert, but when I was serving meals door to door [during the pandemic] and seeing how bad the area was as far as no grocery stores…just wasn’t a lot of options,” he said.
The garden project focuses on four components: knowledge of growing and using fresh produce, agriculture self-sustainability, education on obtaining a healthy lifestyle through agriculture and entrepreneurship in agriculture. Seton Harvest, a community-supported agriculture initiative, is a partner in the venture.
“It’s a lower-income community. Produce is expensive,” said Julie Dietz, community outreach manager at Seton Harvest. “They’re intimidated by it. They don’t know how to cut it. They don’t know how to clean it. They don’t know how to cook it. We’re hoping to collaborate by educating the community on how easy produce can be.”
Johnson said finishing touches to the garden include adding a restroom on the property. Once that task is complete, he plans to announce the opening.
Garden roots
Johnson came up with the idea for Granddaddy’s Garden Spot as he reflected on spending time with his cousins and grandfather at 306 Ridgeway Drive when he was a child.
“We didn’t know much about gardening. We really didn’t do anything. We would be out there hanging out with him and holding some of the vegetables and things that he was picking. We wanted to be out there with him and spend time with him,” he said.
During the pandemic, Johnson began gardening with raised beds at Y&E’s community center. The organization formed a partnership with Ivy Tech Community College and used the institution’s kitchen for children’s cooking classes on Mondays.
“We were taking stuff from our garden at our community center and bringing it out there and teaching them how to cook those vegetables and those things that were growing,” Johnson said. “We thought it would be amazing to have a bigger space and then to also get the community involved.”
Johnson, who now owns the Ridgeway Drive property, started raising money in 2023 for the community garden. More than $50,000 was donated to receive a matching grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, and Mattingly Charities contributed $18,000.
However, Johnson’s plans were delayed by area planning commission requirements and a neighbor’s opposition to the garden. Permits and approvals were finalized earlier this year.
“I’ve been doing this work for over a decade, so you sometimes gotta expect the unexpected,” said Johnson. “But what it did was helped us come up with a better plan. We added more things. We got more people involved. And we’re excited to finally see this project coming to life.”
‘It’s a need’
The goal of Granddaddy’s Garden Spot is to honor the legacy of Johnson’s grandfather, provide access to fresh produce and grow a healthier community. One of the main objectives is youth culinary education.
“I thought it would be a great idea to teach our kids how to plant and how to grow things. But what we realized [at the community center] was a lot of our students didn’t know anything about some of the vegetables or even their parents or their families,” he said.
Johnson also sees the garden as an opportunity for local farmers to offer produce in a barn that remains on the property.
“[A farmers market will] bring the community together. And with it being a food desert, it’s a need,” he said.
Many families in the area struggle to access transportation to get to places that sell food, according to Johnson.
“There are gas stations, there are liquor stores and all of those things over there. There should be some type of area that’s selling fresh produce or giving it away,” he said.
In addition to the garden project, Y&E launched a food giveaway at the community center at 1308 Vann Avenue late last year.
“We started to feed families weekly, and we opened up two resource centers that feed individuals in a food desert,” said Johnson. “Now we’re looked at as a food resource, and we’ve been consistent and making sure we have a variety of things, whether it’s meat, whether it’s fresh produce, whether it’s bread.”
Seton Harvest
Before Granddaddy’s Garden Spot, Seton Harvest began partnering with Y&E on the organization’s food giveaways. The certified naturally grown farm sponsored by the Daughters of Charity Province of St. Louise donates 20% of its harvest to local homeless shelters, food banks and church pantries.
“This is our 20th season. In 19 years, we have donated over 156,000 pounds of produce locally in Evansville and the surrounding area,” Dietz said. “If you take a tractor-trailer and fill it from top to bottom, front to back, no bags or boxes, it would be about six of those.”
When Dietz learned Y&E was offering free food to the community, she contacted Johnson to learn how to participate.
“I take produce to their weekly giveaway, and I help them with that when I’m able. And then we had a big meeting with my executive director and our farmers and said, ‘We would love to collaborate with you. There is no reason why we can’t work something out and do something.’” So we met, and [Johnson] was telling us about the garden, and the ideas started popping,” she said.
Dietz said the organizations discussed several ways that Seton Harvest could contribute to the garden project.
“We touched on providing whatever their needs may be. If they need compost to help better the soil. If they want to start all their plants from seeds. We offered to give them the seeds that we have that they’re looking for. If they wanted to start with plants, we would start the plants here and give them the starts there,” she said.
Once the garden is operational, the farm plans to start children’s agricultural classes while helping the community get the produce they need.
“We’re excited to be a part of what [Johnson’s] doing. He’s doing such an incredible job. Every time you turn around, Young & Established has done this, Young & Established has done that. And it’s phenomenal. We’re happy to be a part of it and help them out any way we can,” said Dietz.