Edible Sacramento Summer 2022

Having served his own 18 year prison term, Melbourne says that cominghome to found Three Sisters Gardens wasn’t just a job, itwas a calling. “An Indigenous, ex-in carcerated-led organization is part of positive growth in a community where incarcera tion is systemic,” he says. While Melbourne doesn’t allow his past to define him, he also knows that his story serves as a powerful example to the young people he men tors that everyone has an abili ty to change. “I love my community. I love what I do,” Melbourne says. “It’smore than just grow ing lettuce. This gives us a pos itive voice in the community. It’s our platform to highlight the disparities and dysfunc tion and to create our own suc cessful solution.”

Clockwise from left: Lettuce and beans are planted at Three Sisters Gardens' Cummins Way farm in West Sacra mento; Founder Alfred Melbourne participates in a volunteer activity and workshop day at Three Sisters' 5th Street farm; Instructor Sarah Wesley demonstrates food canning and pres ervation with beets from Three Sisters Gardens' 5th Street farm; Volunteers Mia Troches and Diana Garcia seed tomatoes in trays for transplanting at the 5th Street farm's skill share event

GROWING AND GROWING Founded in 2018 on a donated plot of land, Three Sisters Gar dens is now comprised of four separate urban farms with a total of 1.15 acres in production throughout the Broderick neigh borhood ofWest Sacramento. Melbourne is activelypursuingopportunities toexpand thepro gram to other communities throughout Greater Sacramento. Ulti mately, Melbourne’s goal is to create a model that can be replicated by other disenfranchised communities to create their own food re siliency, job skills training programs, and neighborhood empower ment through the agricultural activationof unused lots. His goal? “Fifty total plots in the next five years,” he says. With a focus on heirloom crops, Three Sisters sells its produce to Natomas Unified School District as well as to a variety of local restaurants; this includes growing specialty items for chefs such as Janel Inouye and Ed Roehr at Sacramento’sMagpie Café. Looking at the perfectly hand-weeded rows of Chioggia beets, provider beans, and assorted vibrantly colored lettuces, it’s easy to see why chefs are eager to include Three Sisters’ produce in their menus. As Melbourne boasts, Three Sisters Gardens is “growing some of the best vegetables around.” Three Sisters Gardens also offers three different commu nity-supported agriculture (CSA) plans to the public: a full season, 20-week plan with weekly customer pickups starting

June 3; a four-week plan with pickups avai lable in any four weeks during the peak grow ing season; and a single-box option. Customers can sign up at 3sistersgardens.com. While Melbourne is proud of the respect his produce has earned in the Farm-to-Fork Capital, that clearly is not what drives him or the Three Sisters Gardens team. For them, it’s all about community. Each month, the organization donates up to 60 per cent of its harvest to food-insecure individuals and families. In addition to providing aweekly delivery of produce to the Yolo Food Bank, the youths whowork on the farmreceive a small stipend and are encouraged to take produce home. Melbourne beams when he describes a picture one of these young people recently sent him—it features a traditional Indigenous dish that the teammember and her grandmothermade using produce from the 5th Street farm. “Adults being good role models; youths being exposed to new, positive skills and interests; [increasing] respect for elders and tra ditions,”Melbourne says, “this is the spirit of Three Sisters.”

It has been my pleasure to work with Samuel Ramos, a youth ambas sador from Three Sisters Gardens, on the photos accompanying this article. A huge thank you goes to edible Sacramento for oering Sam his first professional photography job!

Ediblesacramento.com 15