Growing Places at White River State Park

Plans are in the works to transform five fallow garden beds at White River State Park into 6,000 square feet of a vibrant, productive vegetable garden. Slow Food Indy has been awarded a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the Indiana Department of Agriculture, which is enabling the local Slow Food chapter to contract with Laura Henderson of Urban Earth Indy and Matthew Jose of Big City Farms to create and manage the garden.

The garden will be located in a very visible location, between the state park’s Washington Street entrance and the south end of the canal, and between the underground parking elevator and the Segway rental station. That location, Henderson said, should be leveraged for maximum outreach to the community. She said the goal is to create a replicable education and training program for urban gardening and farming. Indianapolis residents of all ages will be invited to participate in community work days, and there will be regular weekly hours during which the garden will be open for interested individuals to work and learn in the garden. Plans are still being finalized, and the extent of programming offered in the first year will be influenced by the level of funding that can be secured.

The garden will feature varieties of vegetables and fruits that were once commonly grown in Indiana and the Great Lakes Regions, but have now been identified as endangered or “at-risk” of disappearing, as well as crops that are suited to Indiana growing but uncommon in Indianapolis markets. The plan is to grow and sell produce at Downtown farmers markets and restaurants, transporting the produce around the city by bicycles with trailers.

Proceeds will go back into the continued development of the Growing Places program. The greater goal is to hold workshops that provide information, resources and hands on experience for individuals whether they are interested in small container gardens, backyard, community or even school gardens.

For individuals interested in establishing income producing, working urban farms, the Growing Places project aims to offer extended trainings in safe and sustainable urban farming from a business perspective. Henderson and Jose hope to include other growers and experts from Indianapolis, the rest of the state, and perhaps nationally in educational outreach and programming. Henderson said the hope is that this garden will inspire the continued expansion of urban growing, support for farmers markets, and new farmers.