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Tony Gayles works in the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
Plants, vegetables, and more from the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
Plants, vegetables, and more from the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
Tony Gayles working with Cedar Shoals High School student, Tay Scott, in the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
Tony Gayles works in the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
Tony Gayles works in the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
The West Broad Community Garden is showing off the last of summer’s bounty. Peppers and tomatoes hang ripe from the vines. Okra makes a final push to put out pointy green pods. Towering orange Tithonia flowers welcome butterflies to perch on their petals.
Over the coming weeks, the garden will transform from the vibrant fruits of summer to the beginnings of cold weather crops — kale, spinach and greens. Of course, this change doesn’t happen by itself.
Plants, vegetables, and more from the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
Participants of Young Urban Farmers, a program ran by Athens Land Trust, do a lot of the work at the West Broad garden. Working side by side with local farmers and community members, participants of Young Urban Farmers learn how to cultivate the land, work on their own small business ideas and earn a paycheck.
With a new school year underway, Young Urban Farmers coordinator Tony Gayles is preparing for his second year with the program, a new growing season and a new cohort of young farmers. Over the next year, Gayles hopes to increase the output of the community gardens.
“Growing to learn is great. There’s value in that,” Gayles said. “But there’s even more value in putting it on somebody’s plate.”
A former New York City teacher, Gayles moved to Athens to be closer to his home of Jacksonville, Florida. Gayles is a farmer himself — he runs Littlefoot Farm in Athens. He started working with Young Urban Farmers last year.
Tony Gayles works in the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
“We’re just incredibly fortunate to have to have Tony working with us … he’s very passionate about what he’s doing, and he’s very passionate about trying to help young people exceed and thrive,” said Heather Benham, the executive director of Athens Land Trust.
The program gives youth in Athens-Clarke County the opportunity for a different kind of first job, away from fast food restaurants and movie theaters where many teenagers find themselves working in high school.
“It is comparable pay to a fast food restaurant, and not as mind-numbing,” Gayles said. “It’s a little bit more interactive, more purposeful and intentional.”
Benham said the need for youth job opportunities, especially in lower income neighborhoods, came up frequently over the years during the land trust’s neighborhood input sessions. In a college town like Athens, it can be difficult for high schoolers to compete with college students for a job, she said. Athens Land Trust’s youth programs aim to help fix this problem.
“[Our youth development programs are] beyond just a first job. It’s something hopefully a little more holistic and all encompassing to improve their situation in the long term,” Benham said.
“Growing to learn is great. There’s value in that ... but there’s even more value in putting it on somebody’s plate.” — Tony Gayles, director of Young Urban Farmers
While Young Urban Farmers places an emphasis on technical agricultural skills, the students also develop business plans that they can execute through the West Broad Farmers Market. Tay Scott, who was a young farmer in last year’s cycle, grew and sold cut flowers at the farmers market.
Tony Gayles working with Cedar Shoals High School student, Tay Scott, in the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
“I just like the way [the flowers] look, they look so vibrant,” said Scott, a junior at Cedar Shoals High School. He is continuing in the program this school year.
Other business projects have included growing mushrooms with mushroom logs and selling birdhouses, Gayles said. Some past participants have continued working on their business ideas even after their tenure with the program.
Once the new cohort members are hired in the fall, they’ll start group business planning to prepare for their own projects in the spring. Starting the program in the fall also gives participants the opportunity to experience a variety of seasons in the garden.
“It’s different to see it when it’s like this as compared to in the spring and summer [when it’s] fully grown,” Gayles said.
Young Urban Farmers’ impact has grown since its inception in 2013. According to the Athens Land Trust website, it has employed over 200 students from all three Athens-Clarke County high schools, while also benefiting the community it serves.
“It’s a wonderful program,” Scott said.
Those who want to support Athens Land Trust can volunteer or make a donation, and those who want to support Young Urban Farmers can visit the West Broad Farmers Market. For more information about the land trust and the Young Urban Farmers program, you can visit athenslandtrust.org.
Plants, vegetables, and more from the West Broad Community Garden in Athens, Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022. Athens Land Trust's works to empower the community through agricultural education. (Photo/Melanie Velasquez; mvelasquez@randb.com)
The West Broad Farmers Market opened for the first time this year on Saturday, Jan. 29 at the Athens Housing Authority parking lot.
A student at Athens Technical College, Rea’l Pogue is a member of the Young Urban Farmers. T…
Erin is the senior editor of Magazines & Guides at The Red & Black, where she has covered music and arts, Greek life and local business. She is a senior journalism and English major, and also has bylines in Matador Network and Apartment Therapy.
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