Community gardens feed the body and soul.

It’s hard for a young child or young mother to learn about fresh fruits and vegetables when they live in the middle of a food desert. Louisville currently ranks second, behind only Phoenix, Arizona, as an American city designated as an “urban heat island” where parts of the city are significantly warmer than their surrounding rural areas, due to human activity.

That’s why community gardens like those at New Directions’ Brandeis Apartments and the Paul Polson Community Garden (across from St. William Apartments) are so vital. These gardens not only provide fresh food to our residents, but present amazing learning opportunities to our children. The gardens also bring residents together for the simple joy of working the soil and seeing the bounty of their work. 

These gardens, which began over 15 years ago, continue to flourish under the watchful and compassionate eye of Sharonda Allen, who leads Urban Farmer Louisville L.L.C.  Sharonda has helped breathe new life into our gardens. And Brandeis Apartments is now officially a “farm” in the eyes of the U.S. Department of Agriculture with our new “hoop garden” thanks to the work of Board Member Kurt Mason.