“The fall is one of the nicest times of the year to plant here in New Orleans because all of these things that you don’t normally see, like brassicas, like brussel sprouts and broccoli, kale–tons of kale, so beautiful, you know. They start growing here. And so, yeah, we [volunteers] were preparing for that [at Gathering Tree Growers Collective]…And then, that was kind of when we became part of [Macon Fry’s] plot in this community garden here at Gathering Tree…And once we started that season, [Macon Fry] said, ‘You know, well, now that you guys have been becoming regulars,…we should maybe turn this place into a co-op, into a kind of collective garden.’ Where, because since most of us were just…beginner farmers, it could be used not only as a place to feed ourselves but also as a way to learn how to farm here in Southeastern, you know, the Southeast United States, more specifically, coastal Southern Louisiana.”–Jocine Velasco
Moving from Florida to New Orleans a year and a half ago, Jocine Velasco has immersed herself in the city’s urban gardening movement. Velasco is now a collective member of Gathering Tree Growers Collective with Macon Fry and is also a farming supervisor at The Vintage Garden Farms. In this interview, Velasco discusses her decision to move to New Orleans, her definition of urban and sustainable agriculture, and her introduction to Gathering Tree. She explains the collective’s organizational structure and contrasts it to community gardening. Finally, Velasco describes the garden and its relationship to its neighborhood near Xavier University.
You can read the full transcript of Velasco’s interview here.
Anne Gessler 