History and Mission
In 2003 the former Executive Director, Jim Harlin, had a dream of starting a garden where people could come to learn and share their growing experiences.
He planned for the garden to be a mechanism for community involvement and outreach that included local partnerships and demonstrated principles of organic, traditional, and local food production.
In 2006 work began on Hope Gardens first hoop house with five more to follow over the years. These hoop houses use passive solar heating to extend New Mexico’s short growing season allowing food production to continue into the cold winter months.
The Hope Garden Memorial Orchard was established in 2011 after the passing of Jim Harlin and has grown to include over one hundred fruit trees made up of Cherries, Apples, Pears, and Apricots.
In 2012 The Community Pantry partnered with Youth Conservation Corps as well as numerous volunteers to construct a rock berm that borders the south west edge of the garden providing a wind break and multiple levels of growing space.
2012 was also the year that seventy-two raised garden boxes, including twenty-four ADA accessible garden boxes, were constructed with the help of Alpine Lumber. These raised boxes allow community members to participate in healthy growing practices and provide a place for both personal growth and plant growth.
To this day Hope Garden continues to demonstrate healthy production practices such as water harvesting, composting, cover cropping, crop rotation, and seed propagation. It incorporates strategies for food security by empowering local families to grow their own food.