Carla Eckels keeps it green

Community gardens in Wichita

If you've read my blog on pickle-making, you've heard about my Garden of Social and Political Revolution. It's nothing much, just a stunted little garden in muddy soil outside my dining room window. My most impressive plant remains a robust green Italian pepper. I'm intensely proud of my GSPR, though, because it's my first garden of my own, at my own house. It's kept me stocked on salad greens all summer!

However, I will be the first to admit there are gardens in town that more fully embody the term, Gardens of Social and Political Revolution. My co-worker and friend, Carla Eckels, found several of them for a recent piece she produced. These are the gardens that change the world! They feed the hungry and teach people new skills. They teach city-dwellers how to love the earth. They provide giant eggplant and collard greens.

If you have a few minutes, please listen to Carla's story. And if you have a few minutes more, visit one of these lovely little gardens, right here in The Vortex. And if you really want a kicky time, volunteer at one of these gardens. Who cares about rising food prices? Not people who grow their own food.