Jill Stone Community Garden is Growing to Serve More Neighbors

The NTFB partner garden at Temple Emanu-el is adding a second greenhouse to grow more culturally relevant food for those facing hunger.

Snake melon, tatsoi, pok choi and sweet peppers are among the fresh foods grown in the Jill Stone Community Garden at Temple Emanu-el.

With the addition of a second greenhouse and a hoop house structure, both being funded by a North Texas Food Bank capacity grant, the garden will soon be able to produce even more food, all of which is provided to neighbors served at the nearby Vickery Meadow Food Pantry. The grant was celebrated during an event at the garden in early September.

“Jill Stone Garden is a model for what is possible,” said Rob Dolby, Senior Director of Community Partner Relations at the North Texas Food Bank, speaking during the event. “Along with growing fresh produce for their neighbors, Temple Emanu-el has also placed a priority on growing vegetables and greens that are culturally relevant to the people they serve. We are happy that this grant will allow them to expand those efforts.”

The garden was first created in 2011 after Temple Emanu-el learned of the need at Vickery Meadow, just two miles away. Volunteers Gail Lawrence, Wendy Leanse and Lori Droppo said that two tenants of Jewish faith are Tikkun Olam, to mend the world, and Tzedakah, to give what we can. The garden is a place to practice our values.

It has grown over the years and is now designated by the USDA as an urban farm. All produce grown in the garden is delivered to Vickery Meadow, and over the years, garden volunteers have tailored their garden to meet the needs of their neighbors. They want to grow vegetables that neighbors are familiar with and use often, which means they grow everything from bitter and snake melon to tatsoi and pok choi as well as greens and sweet peppers.

During the last two years, the number of people being served at Vickery Meadow has increased exponentially and Jill Stone volunteers wanted to grow their harvest to support the pantry. The volunteer leaders say the NTFB grant will help them do just that.

“The Jill Stone Community Garden believes that it can grow again to increase its harvest, to provide everyone coming to the pantry with culturally relevant produce, nutritious greens and fresh herbs,” Gail wrote. “With a second greenhouse, we can enhance production of seedlings to place in the ground, providing a quicker, four-season, crop rotation. With a Hoop House structure, we can provide greater protection of our tender greens and herbs during the hot Texas summer and the inclement weather conditions of Texas winter.”

Along with increasing the amount of produce it donates to Vickery Meadow, Jill Stone Community Garden is working to establish Vickery Meadow as a Nudge Pantry. Nudge Pantries are those that provide neighbors with recipes, shelf tags and other nudges meant to make the healthy food choice the easy choice.