At Juneau’s shelter, Liz Landes carted wheelbarrows of dirt to the 20 raised garden beds she helped build last summer. A few of the shelter’s residents were shoveling the soil into the beds, while others sat enjoying the sunshine.
Landes calls herself a freelance farmer. She helps build community gardens throughout Southeast Alaska. Last year, she came to Juneau to help build a garden at the Glory Hallʼs Teal St. shelter.
“I shamelessly cried when I saw photos of the garden in full splendor last summer. It was amazing,” Landes said. “I couldn’t believe that in the first year, it could be as successful as it was.”
Landes said the garden thrived under the care of Glory Hall residents. And it wasn’t just the food she planted that she saw bloom. One of the residents, William Hunt, took the lead on the garden. He wrote about it in an essay for the Glory Hall’s online bulletin.
“This garden literally saved my life,” he wrote. “It gave me something to believe in again. A purpose and a calling!”
Landes said she wants everyone to take the power of growing food into their own hands. Huntʼs story stuck with her.
“It changed his physical health,” she said. “It changed his mental outlook in the two weeks I was here, and then I heard it continued on throughout the summer.”
Luke Vroman, the Glory Hall’s deputy director, said he watched Hunt get stronger and healthier while cutting way back on his drinking. And when one of Hunt’s doctors saw him later that summer, he didn’t recognize him.
“I mean, I don’t know if anyone had ever really seen anything like that,” Vroman said.
Resident Beverly Pacheco said she’s been gardening for years, and she’s grateful she can do it at the Glory Hall.
“I love this,” she said. “It speaks to my heart and soul.”
As a vegetarian, Pacheco is excited about all the food she can help grow.
“Potatoes, chives, nasturtiums. They’re tasty,” she said. “It tastes like radishes, actually kind of a little bit, but you know they’re pretty, too.”
For now, Pacheco is spreading topsoil and compost, anticipating the vegetables to come.
