Photo by Courtney McCary-Squyres
Last post, I focused on how the community gardens in Alamogordo have impacted the community, and that’s what I plan on sticking with for at least the next 2 weeks.
The major functions of this blog will be bringing like-minded members of this community to 1. take actionable steps to better Alamogordo, 2. to have better knowledge of the resources this town can provide you, 3. to get to know each other better (that’s what my profiles will be for), and 4. to help document the town’s noble efforts.
With that in mind, I think it’s really interesting getting to know people in general, but for this round of posts, specifically to understand people’s motivations for getting involved in the Public Land for Food campaign. Today, I’ll be focusing on Alexis Romo.
Romo, a dedicated and active member in local politics, heard about the public gardens when the Maryland location first sought volunteers.
She has been out to several demos and garden walks, and she said she may have to start making a point to harvest basil from the New York location, but Romo has been a bit more impressed by the gardens’ ability to bring people together.
“The community gardens help bring people together for a common goal that benefits everyone. It helps teach people new skills and builds community,” she said.
A big part of how we take care of each other right now, on top of growing free and fresh food, is by realizing that no one knows everything, but collectively we know quite a bit. Sharing not just resources but the skills to procure those resources, is very beneficial to all of us.
Even in her own personal life, Romo just enjoys being amongst a bit of nature.
“I love visiting the (garden beds) behind New York. I usually get something from Infinity Sweets and sit out there with some friends.”
Personally, I’ve been pretty open on this blog that politics just aren’t my bag. Maybe I’m a part of the problem in hindsight, but when I was somewhat involved, it was kind of hard to get others on-board, especially when the status quo politics of Alamogordo seem to be immovable.
In the grand scheme, I can see why they’re important, and nothing will ever change here until the people who care about our community get involved, but I think a lot of people would just rather do the actual work without the added bureaucratic aspect. Getting involved in the gardens is an easy way to do that, especially if you’re actually talented at gardening (unlike me).
“I look forward to seeing more gardens pop up throughout town so neighbors can also get to know each other better,” Romo said.
I hope everyone is finding ways to both take care of themselves and each other.
Until Tuesday,
Salud
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