Sep. 9—You have to look pretty hard at Timothy Maestas’ Thai basil plant to see the growth, but it’s there: Several tiny leaves, no more than a half-inch high, just a promise of the aromatic goodness they’ll hopefully bring to the kitchen of his Santa Fe apartment.
They’re poking out of a tiny container that looks like a Keurig coffee pod, set into a futuristic growing contraption alongside pods labeled as mint, peppers, dill.
“I got the flowers first,” Maestas said of the countertop AeroGarden grow-box, which he received earlier this summer as part of Bienvenidos Outreach’s Gardens for All project. “[These] I’ll eat, I’ll use for cooking.”
The whole contraption fits on a rolling cart just inside Maestas’ front door. It’s about the size of a large coffee maker, although Maestas said his first round of colorful blooms grew to about 2 feet and necessitated raising the grow lights to their highest possible level.
A grant from United Way of North Central New Mexico made the Gardens for All project possible and will pay for all AeroGarden supplies over the next three years — soil, seeds and even supplements for keeping the plants healthy — said Alice Montoya, special projects manager for Bienvenidos, a local food pantry.
“We will provide everything that they need for the units for the next three years,” Montoya said.
Maestas said he enjoyed the profusion of color from the flowers in the last couple of months, although he doesn’t know what varieties he had.
Born and raised on a Rociada cattle ranch, the 63-year-old has been living on disability benefits for years after undergoing brain surgery for a tumor he said was “almost the size of a golf ball.”
His life is quiet today; a single father of three children, now all in their 30s and living away from Santa Fe, Maestas lives alone and has plenty of time to tend his tiny garden — except it doesn’t really need much tending. The seedlings wick water up from a reservoir that only needs to be filled about once a week, and the unit itself has a way to adjust for the type of plants gardeners are attempting: herbs, flowers, salad greens, vegetables.
“It’s kind of like a good hobby,” Maestas said. “It’s something to do, and you could eat the stuff.”
Montoya said the food pantry has $100,000 to spend on the three-year program. So far this year, the group has distributed 120 units.
“Our goal is to try to give out 300 units by the end of this year and another 200 units next year and 200 units the following year,” Montoya said.
The first batch of gardening units are from manufacturer AeroGarden, and each costs about $50 or $60. Some larger units are available for group settings. The Santa Fe Children’s Museum, the Santa Fe Indigenous Center and The Food Depot are all in line for a unit, Montoya said.
In her own office on 5th Street near Cerrillos Road, Montoya has demonstration pods set up along the length of a long shelf, two overflowing with with foliage: an eggplant, tomatoes, jalapeños. She’s even got a couple of aquaponics tanks set up. Guppies in one tank and goldfish in another provide waste that acts as nutrition for decorative house plants and even a couple of sweet potatoes.
Montoya, who got into gardening through overseeing the project, said she uses the fish water to water peppers and tomatoes in the largest growing unit.
“That’s why they’re so green,” she said.
The goal of the program overall, Montoya said, is to encourage people, even those in small apartments, to grow food for themselves or flowers to provide a little natural beauty.
“A lot of people can’t go outside; they’re homebound,” she said. “… What we’re trying to achieve is … giving them the power to provide food for themselves.”
The program is for everybody, “anyone who is rich, anyone who is poor,” Montoya said.
Montoya, who has been with Bienvenidos Outreach since 2016, said other than Christmastime programs, the gardening project is her favorite pantry initiative.
“Oh my gosh, I am just so excited that I can help people to grow,” she said. “Just the look on their faces when they come in and they say, ‘I grew some lettuce,’ or ‘I made a salad,’ or ‘I made a pizza with my pesto, with my basil.’ “
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
