PEORIA MAGAZINE May 2022

S P O T L I G H T

SOWING THE SEEDS OF COMMUNITY Budded Mattah is teaching gardening, changing lives on Peoria’s South Side

BY LAURIE PILLMAN PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON, PROV IDED BY BUDDED MATTAH

G rowth is an expected term when talking about gardening proj ects. What Budded Mattah has seen in the last year has been more of an explosion. The nonprofit’s efforts begin with plants, but its goals encompass much more than a simple community garden. Budded Mattah – a biblical refer ence (Numbers 17:8) to Moses’ brother Aaron’s staff (“mattah” is the Hebrew term for “staff ”) budding and pro ducing fruit — is an urban gardening project that eliminates barriers to building garden plots for residents of the southern third of Peoria as a way to address the so-called “food desert” situation that exists there. Residents living in ZIP codes 61602, 61603, 61604, 61605 and 61606 have limited access to a supermarket that provides fresh produce. Many of the residents are also renters that don’t have permission to grow plants where they live. The nonprofit blends the agricultural incubator ideas and proven techniques of Detroit’s urban gardeningmovement to of fer Peor ia residents smal l , affordable garden plots in what used to be vacant lots. For $12, South Side Peoria residents can grow their own food in an open plot at one of Budded Mattah’s gardens. From there, the organization helps

gardeners get started with seeds, soil testing, land tilling and fencing for personal, locked gardens. Then comes the training. Volunteers teach residents the techniques to suc cessfully growplants and increase crop yield. Gardeners are provided infor mation resources regarding nutrition, cooking and preservation of food so they have the potential to launch their own urban farming businesses within a few years. BuddedMattah organizer Ryan Foster said the group startedwith just two lots and two hoop houses, both donated by South Side Mission – “a blessing” – which gave them 20 plots to kick off the project. Volunteers built the beds and planted the seeds. Local businesses jumped right in, helpingwith everything

from expensive blended soil to the plastic for the hoop houses. “Everyone that needs to be there is there at the right time,” Foster said. In March of last year, Foster and others were going door to door to raise funds for fencing and increase awareness about the gardens. It became clear that they were in the right place when 40 families in the 61605 neighborhood expressed interest in the project. Rather than reject potential gardeners, Budded Mattah added a third garden at Harrison Homes. There is more to the project than food production, said Foster. The work that goes into a garden gives residents a sense of self-sufficiency that is

18 MAY 2022 P EORIA MAGAZINE