Community Garden Thrives in Northwest Houston
by Lynn Hummel and Patricia Swagerty, Cy-Fair Women's Club
Today, the Cy-Fair Helping Hands Community Garden provides more than 1,000 pounds of fresh vegetables for its food pantry clients. It was the Cy-Fair Women’s Club 2016 Adopt-A-Cause recipient of $10,000. After being built, it had its challenges due to the lack of volunteers to keep it up—plant and harvest the vegetables.
In 2021, the Garden harvested a total of 1,958 pounds of eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, okra, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, onions, basil, tomatillos, radishes, lettuce, kale, brussel sprouts, cilantro, chard and potatoes. From January thru September 2022, 1,225 pounds were harvested. The Garden has been transitioned to the winter vegetables. Okra is done and the remaining beds will be planted in the next week or two. The plan is to get everything harvested before the end of January 2023 when a deep freeze could hit again.
It takes a village. This collaboration of volunteers and nonprofits make it a win-win for all. For more information, Cy-Fair Helping Hands (www.cyfairhelpinghands.org) and the Reach Unlimited Greenhouse (www.reachunlimited.org) are always in need of volunteers. Cy-Fair Women’s Club members volunteer and assist a variety of nonprofits in our community. To join or learn more about Cy-Fair Women’s Club by contacting membership@cyfairwomensclub.org.
