At the February 2011 Come to the Table Conference in Eastern NC, a group of volunteers gathered at the house of Guillermina Garcia to help plant seeds for her garden. The group included conference participants, youth from NC Dream Team and Poder Juvenil Campesino, members of Women Without Borders, and other people from the community. In the summer, Guillermina’s garden produced so many tomatillos and tomatoes that her family could hardly keep up. She donated boxes of produce to her church and this year hopes that the garden is again abundant enough to make salsa and sell it locally.
This spring, several volunteers who were involved in the Come to the Table work day will be starting a garden of their own. Members of the farmworker youth group Poder Juvenil Campesino plan to grow vegetables to eat and to sell in nearby Kinston. They hope the garden will give them a chance to learn more about growing and selling produce, including staples like potatoes and more unusual items like heirloom chiles and the Mexican herb epazote. Come to the Table, NCField, and members of local churches are in the process of finding materials, donations, and volunteers to support the project.
