Podcast: City Sprouts— Omaha's Original Community Garden Keeps Growing
Mia Webb, intern education assistant, Edgar Romero, manager of City Sprouts south garden and Aaron French, manager of urban farm initiatives planting onions at the urban farm near Eppley Airfield. Photo credit: Kietryn Zychal/NOISE
By Kietryn Zychal
City Sprouts, nestled in a neighborhood at 40th and Seward St., is Omaha’s first community garden. It was started in the mid-1990s by neighbors and professors at Creighton University who saw opportunity in an abandoned lot for some volunteers to grow vegetables. Today, City Sprouts has greatly expanded from its humble beginnings to include gardens in both North and South Omaha, employees, educational programs for children and adults, a paid-internship program for teens and a new seven-acre urban farm near Eppley Airfield. And, most importantly, City Sprouts distributes thousands of pounds of produce to Omaha residents on a pay-what-you-can-basis throughout the summer and fall at locations throughout the metro. NOISEmakers Kietryn Zychal and Emily Chen-Newton spent an afternoon with Aaron French, manager of urban farm initiatives, to learn about the things City Sprouts has to offer as well as some tips on gardening for those who want to give it a try.
