+ Cincinnati Eco-Garden

We spoke with Luke Ebner of the Over the Rhine Eco-Garden, in Cincinnati, OH, about running a small community oriented non-profit. The OTR Eco-Garden is a non profit that pays local teenagers to work on an urban farm. The teenagers learn how to plan, plant, harvest, and market their produce.

What is the Eco Garden?

The Eco-Garden was started under “Impact Over the Rhine” in 1998, with Eric Powlowski as the director. “Impact Over the Rhine” was an environmentally conscious non-profit in downtown Cincinnati. It consisted of a recycle crew, an art group, and the Eco-Garden. The Eco-Garden is a small organic farm in the middle of Over the Rhine. The farm is an urban youth market-garden, and is similar to programs in other cities. The idea is to train kids to plan, plant, harvest, and market organic fruits and vegetables.

How do you find the kids?

Under “Impact Over the Rhine” we had a good location at Findlay Market and we found a lot of kids through word of mouth. Now we operate under Memorial Incorporated and we visit schools, like the Rothenberg School, to recruit kids. We also put up fliers to find kids in places where they hang out. After we find the kids, we teach them the whole process of farming. We are at Findlay market during the growing season, from May-November.

How many kids and gardens?

Right now, we only use the garden in Over the Rhine. The kids are paid $6 an hour, as a stipend, so no taxes are taken out. Right now the kids work five hours a week, because we are saving our funds for the summer when they will work ten hours a week. In the middle of the summer we sometimes have more kids working even more hours. Our program would like to involve the opportunity for sponsoring a kid. Anyone who sponsors a kid would get a weekly share of produce.

Other than Memorial Inc., who else support you in the community?

Our main partner is the Civic Garden Center. They support us with adult volunteers and seeds. Right now we have to truck water to the Eco-Garden. The Civic Garden Center recently received a grant that will help us get a water source into our garden. Turner Farms is also one of our biggest supporters.

How has the Eco-Garden affected the local community?

Many of our kids get to take home vegetables, and a lot of the kids retain the knowledge about farming. They are very proud to be at the Findlay market stand doing consumer education about why people should buy local food.

One of the main things that we teach the kids is that their job is not only a paycheck, it is a skill. In the great depression, Victory Gardens kept people from starving, and as we enter times where food is becoming more and more expensive because of gas, they are going to have an option to know how to survive.

We also try to teach the kids that the food that they are getting (from the garden) is superior. We teach them about genetically modified foods and pesticides. We teach them that most food that they buy from the store is basically nutrient dead, because it has often been almost two weeks since it was picked. The nutrient levels go down the longer food is shipped. When we are selling food at Findlay market, we harvest it the day before.

In the great depression, Victory Gardens kept people from starving, and as we enter times where food is becoming more and more expensive because of gas, they are going to have an option to know how to survive.

What are some of the frustrations you have?

A frustration to me is lack of city support. Last year we had a meeting with the health commissioner. He was interested in our program. We wrote a grant proposal for youth funding and for another an adult supervisor; so I can focus on producing the food and get more help with managing the kids. We never heard back from them. We want the city to give us more support: sponsor us, brag about us, and maybe even expand our space.

My other frustration is that they are doing development around the garden, and the developers want a part of the garden for their own uses. I don’t want to stop development around the garden, but I would like to work with the developers. Maybe, they could convince their tenants to sponsor a kid. They could sponsor a kid for 15 dollars a week.

Great! Let's check out the Garden!