Saturday, 12.26.09
Community Organic Garden Opens in North Miami
BY PAMELA DUQUE

The first public organic vegetable garden in North Miami had its grand opening this month, meaning residents with green thumbs can try their hand at growing produce.

The woman behind it: Alice Billman, founder and director of Heroes Unite, a North Miami-based nonprofit organization that offers vocational programs to help underprivileged children in the community.

The community will have an opportunity to have garden plots of their own in North Miami's first community garden, the Dragon Garden at the Enchanted Forest Park.   photo: Chris Cutro

The Asian-themed Dragon Garden — which boasts a wooden silhouette of a dragon — is located in the Enchanted Forest Park, 1725 NE 135 St. in North Miami. It is part of Giving Back Green, one of Heroes Unite programs that aims to teach children about nutrition, gardening and environmental awareness.

The plots, roughly the size of a children's wading pool, are only available to North Miami residents. Reserving one of the plots is free, and gardeners can plant anything they want — as long it's not a large planting that would overwhelm the plots, Billman said.

"This garden will allow the community to come together, share their cultures, and plant their mangoes or anything else that they think is appropriate", she said.

8-year-old Lila Subirats and fellow students perform on Taiko drums for the crowd during the Green Carpet event, the grand opening of North Miami's first community garden, the Dragon Garden, at the Enchanted Forest Park.
photo: Chris Cutro

The only condition: Because having a spot in the garden is free, Billman asks that residents donate 10 percent of what they plant to a green market that will sell the garden's produce. She plans to open the green market in February. During the weekdays, Billman hopes to organize the market at the Enchanted Forest Park and at Griffing Park during the weekends. Other vendors will also participate, she said, but specific schedules are yet to be announced.

At the grand opening on Dec. 12, children from Heroes Unite and Kung Fu Connection, a martial arts school co-owned by Billman and her husband, Gus Cuervo-Rubio, stole the show.


Dancing to the rhythm of drums, children perform a traditional Chinese Lion Dance for crowds of people during the grand opening of North Miami's first community garden, the Dragon Garden, at the Enchanted Forest Park. photo: Chris Cutro

Some children joined together to dress up as a Japanese dragon. About a dozen more, with their black martial arts uniforms and their drum sticks in hand, played Taiko, or Japanese drumming, before the ceremonial ribbon cutting.

Lila Subirats, 8, was one of the little martial arts students behind drums almost as tall as she was.

"I had a lot of fun", she said after her performance. "Taiko is more fun than the dragon. You don't have to be all sweaty."

North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre was also present at the garden's grand opening, where he expressed his support to Billman. "We are going to try to allocate more money from the budget to do more green gardens throughout the city and parks," Pierre said. "We have to make sure everyone understands we have to go green."


Donovan Cecil, 22, fixes one of the bed markers during the Green Carpet Event, the opening of The Dragon Garden, North Miami's first community garden at the Enchanted Forest Park.   photo: Chris Cutro

Schools like David Lawrence Jr. K-8 Center and Florida International University have already planted in the garden. The two schools partnered with Heroes Unite to offer volunteer services and help maintain the produce.

"We are bringing FIU students to help maintain the garden and create lessons in planting," said Jennifer Grimm, environmental coordinator at FIU's Biscayne Bay Campus.

Johnson & Wales University culinary students were also at the Green Carpet event, where they served guests healthy foods like brussels sprouts. The school will also give free cooking and nutrition classes to the community as part of Heroes Unite Giving Back Green Program.

"Through Heroes Unite, we want to empower our youth and their families to be more self-sustainable," Billman said. "We need to understand that the resources that we live off are not unlimited, and being organic is expensive, and this is free."

For information on how to reserve a garden plot, call the park at 305-895-1119, or Heroes Unite at 305-981-7780.

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