The foundation is laid. The plants are rooted, but this is no ordinary plot of produce.
"We planted tomatoes, squash, collard greens, kale greens, eggplant."
Precious Fraling of the Glenwood Life Counseling Center says they're part of a collaboration in this special community garden. Glenwood patients in the methadone maintenance program grow the garden.
"Treatment programs are supposed to represent life, growth, so coming this street of Glenwood it didn't represent life it represented a sense of death and coldness.....Knowing that we have this space over here that was filled with a lot of dirt and debris what can we do to improve this land and one thing we came up with, what about a community garden."
"This community garden would build relationships, also it will help recovery because horticultural recovery goes hand in hand."
Another reason why this is no ordinary garden, thanks to these little houses, it also serves as an outdoor free food pantry. Students from the Woodbourne Center, a nonprofit for kids dealing with emotional and behavioral challenges built them.
"The students felt as though they wanted to be able to present something back t the community since they have been out of the community and this is one of the ways they feel as though they can integrate themselves back into the community and make a difference."
Graduate students from Johns Hopkins came up with the concept of Baltimore's Little Free Pantry.
The goal, to help fill in the gaps in the city's many food deserts.
There are lots of food pantries, but they often come with challenges.
"The hours are sometimes inconsistent. The geographic locations are not always convenient for the community members that try to access them, so this is something that is an additional resource."
And just like the growing garden, the groups giving back, hope the concept of the outdoor pantry will spread.
"People who are homeless they'll be able to come over to the little pantry house and they'll get on bag of food. What we would have in the summertime, fresh vegetables, it'll have a pop top canned good, a spoon, a fork, a napkin and they'll be able to have one nights worth of food.
