New Tulsa Community Garden Intended As Safe Place To Grow

The pastor of a Tulsa church hopes a community garden will be a safe place for people to learn to grow.

The garden that Wesley Chapel has adopted doesn’t look like much yet, but it’s just the beginning.

The boxes full of seeds haven't sprouted just yet and the plants are just barely budding right now but one day, hopefully not too far in the future, this space will flourish.

“We have built over 700 square feet of space to have a community garden in a food desert,” said Life’s Food Corporation founder Angela Landrum.

This garden is on Wesley Chapel property in Tulsa. It is being built entirely from community partnerships and the generosity of organizations and non-profits like Life’s Food Corporation and The Rotary Club of Bixby.

"We wanted to create a space that would last for years and years and years," said Angela. "It is sustainability and empowerment. It is reducing the food insecurity that is currently running rampant."

Wesley Chapel is adopting the garden and some of the people who go to the church will take over, helping the plants thrive. The community is also welcome to join.  

"The morning service is 100-150 folks who are mostly homeless," said Wesley Chapel Pastor Chris Beach. "Most of the people we work with are on food stamps."

Volunteers said they are hoping people can learn how to grow their own gardens at home from the skills they learn here.

Beach said they hope the work that happens in this garden, becomes one small piece of a much bigger puzzle.

"Honestly the more we serve and the more we keep open, the more we keep helping people, the more we keep empowering people to lead themselves, more keep coming in," said Beach

The garden is in need of more plants and seeds. If you would like to help, you can drop them off at the church, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday through Friday.