SAN ANTONIO — Note: The Padre Park garden event scheduled for this weekend has been pushed back to Saturday, March 6, due to inclement weather.
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Something really cool is happening in south San Antonio on Saturday.
At Padre Park on the banks of the San Antonio River, a new kind of gardening project is taking root. It's free, family-friendly and the organizers are inviting everyone who wants to help grow a healthier community to come get dirty with them.
Defranco Sarabia is one of the organizers of the event at the new Padre Park Food Forest. Sarabia says it’s free but, "You have to put in that sweat equity, right? Volunteer a little, give a little to receive a little.”
Organizer Nadia Gaona said when preliminary work got underway recently, the idea was an immediate hit with the neighbors.
"People walk by and say, ‘What are you doing here?’ And we say we're going to be planting fruit trees and they say, 'Oh my gosh, that's so awesome! I'm just going to be able to walk by and pick some fruit.'"
Gaona said this project is an important way to lift the south San Antonio community up. “This place has a lot of history, so they're able to connect to their history, to their roots and they're able to bring their children here and show them some of the things they did when they were growing up.”
Located near the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River hike and bike trail, Gaona says this new healthy effort is a natural fit.
“This is a very visible spot and there's a lot of people that come by on bicycles, they come walk their dogs. It's a very active place and so it's going to be really great to have some fruit trees here,” Gaona said.
The organizers are hoping folks will show up on Saturday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. to help plant 60 trees.
Sarabia said, "We are going to have an amazing pecan orchard and a lot of native plants specifically to this region."
Gaona added she can’t wait to see peaches, plums, pears, mulberries, loquats and much more thrive here.
Sarabia said this will be a project good for people of all ages.
“We want a place for our children to come out, to have a safe place where they can develop their experiences here,” Sarabia said, but he added it will be a valuable place for adults who don’t have room for a garden to get growing as well.
They say wear clothes you can get dirty in and bring a water bottle. They will have water on hand for refills and snacks.
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