By ANA ROMERO VIGIL
In the cold of winter is the time to start planning for spring gardens, say Margarito and Cynthia Fuentes, two of the gardeners of La Familia Community Garden at 814 E. 5th Street — one of the first publicly sponsored Healthy Gardens.
The garden evolved from a dilemma of what to do with a neighborhood parcel that was too narrow to build on. Margarito’s parents lived at this site but the family moved to Pueblo West in 1974.
The house was demolished and Margarita took over care of the very narrow piece of land. Years later, Margarito, Eva Montoya, and others in the community, decided a garden would be better than weeds.
The late Eva Montoya, a long-time educator and former member of the Pueblo City Council, wanted a garden plot to attract butterflies to pollinate the garden. Margarito plants a flower garden plot to attract butterflies every year in her memory and honor.
Montoya, on behalf of East Side gardeners, approached then-city manager Bill Zwick and Julie Kuhn at the Health Department and Eastside Neighborhood Association to sponsor the La Familia Community Garden. The group received some grant money and ENA continued from 2009 to 2016.
According to Margarito, the program installed a drip system, and community growers through the Eastside Neighborhood Association raised money to pay for water, and made plots.
In 2016, Neighborhood Works of Pueblo sponsored the garden until it transitioned to Pueblo Food Project in 2024. This year the Pueblo Food Project will host two gardens, according to Allison “Al” Rea, Community Garden Coordinator, La Familia at 814 E 5th St. and RMSER Garden at 330 Lake Ave. They said. “We also support up to five other gardens around town, by providing tools, seeds and starts, and funding repairs or upgrades. What exactly we help with depends on the needs of the gardens and gardeners.”
They shared this link for others interested in getting involved or supporting community gardening: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeIekokPpRiAmGS4PlxObd7HSBBp8ynWzxppd7vUDTsE7kFOQ/viewform?usp=sharing and added that if the cost is a barrier to access, gardeners can alternately pay for their plot with volunteer hours.
For the La Familia Garden, the 25’ X 25’ plot of land is separated into plots 4’ X 10’ and growers pay $44. for each of the 24 plots. To reserve a garden space at La Familia, contact Allison Rea at garden@pueblofoodproject.org. They will announce a date to turn the water on and off as the gardeners get ready to work the summer away.
Cynthia said the herbs from the Fuentes garden plot go to the Pueblo Soup Kitchen. They grow tomatoes, Pueblo chile, pumpkins and, of course, jalapeños (to keep the bugs away).
