Sisters lead effort to revive Wapato Community Garden

Features/The Vanished Editor

WAPATO — Zenaida Rojas was walking with her cousin about a year ago near Wapato Middle School when they passed the Wapato Community Garden. Through the fence they saw shaggy vegetation covering almost everything but a small shelter.

After thinking about volunteering, Rojas decided she wanted to revive the garden, which opened in 2013 and was maintained by participants until sometime before the pandemic. But good intentions can bring unexpected challenges.

First, the padlocked gate. Rojas headed to city hall for a key. Nobody could find one, so a crew came out and cut off the padlock. And all the cheatgrass and weeds. Rojas, her sisters and a few others have created pathways and are still clearing the unwanted vegetation by hand. And all the garbage and pieces of wood everywhere. And no gardening tools or equipment.

"We have our own gloves we use sometimes, but they're mom's," she said.

Rojas and others can't afford to restore the garden by themselves, but they see its value to their community. Along with a GoFundMe with a goal of raising $25,000, they welcome donations of gardening tools and materials, seeds and plants and volunteers' time, expertise and support.

Their plan is to cultivate fruits, flowers and vegetables that are accessible and free to people living in and near this Lower Yakima Valley city. As part of that effort, they want to have fun in the outdoors and get to know their community better, Rojas said.

"Our dream community garden for Wapato, it's kind of different from the traditional bed thing, but we need tools for this," she said. "We can't do it out of pocket because some of the tools are kind of expensive."

Rojas and other volunteers started planting Saturday and were treated to doughnuts while they were there. They also got a few new hoses, shovels, compost, seeds, a water timer and resources on how to find a master gardener, she said.

As part of her efforts to revive the garden, Rojas reached out to Barb Peterson, executive director of Altera (formerly known as the NLA Group), an educational nonprofit located in Wapato. Peterson wrote the $18,000 state grant to create the garden 10 years ago. Peterson worked with then-Mayor Jesse Farias to seek the grant to purchase supplies and plants for the garden.

The city donated six acres to the project and a crew from Fort Simcoe Job Corps built the 27 square planter boxes, which are numbered and were originally assigned to families who paid $20 to use them. Job Corps crew members also installed the small wooden shelter to shade a picnic table and benches.

"She gave me a lot of good tips," Rojas said of Peterson, who is delighted with Rojas' efforts.

City officials had been "very gracious about recognizing the value" of the garden, Peterson said. Its plots were originally cultivated by families without access to yards or any other place to grow vegetables they could use but not always afford.

"Wapato is a food desert and lots of families need extra resources," she said recently. "There was some money that was made available by the Department of Commerce. ... It was a grant for the city to do something and that's what we chose."

In the first few years, organizers worked with participants on the shared community garden concept, which was unfamiliar to some, Peterson said. They worked with city on watering, which is available only during certain months, and providing tools and access.

"Sometimes people had keys. Sometimes it was opened by a caretaker," she added. "By year three it was working very well."

Supporters imagined it as a family gathering place and a community gathering place, as well as serving a need, Peterson said. Rojas wants that too.

Rojas had told her family about her plans for the community garden and two of her sisters, Trudy Rojas and Nieves Rojas, have been working with her on it. They go a few times a week to water and weed. They usually play music and take breaks to talk to curious passers-by on the blacktop path that winds past the garden toward the middle school.

Though another volunteer has been tending some tomato plants, others have flourished despite inattention. The Rojas sisters have found carrots and mint, and clusters of grapes hang from the vine wrapping the fence between the Wapato Community Garden sign and gate.

"Right now we're trying to identify the plants. We're learning to recognize different plants," Zenaida Rojas said. "I'm not a gardener, but I'm trying to learn. We literally checked out books from the library."

As word spreads, others have come forward. A community member made flyers with fundraising and other information about the garden, Rojas said.

The Rojas sisters love their community. Zenaida graduated from Wapato High in 2016 and the University of Washington in 2020. She works at OSPI and hopes to attend law school. Trudy, who is also Miss Wapato, graduated from Wapato High this year. Nieves is still in school.

Along with their work on the community garden, they plan a food drive from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Aug. 12 at the Wapato International Market, 512 W. First St. Nonperishable items collected will go to the Seventh-day Adventist food pantry, Zenaida Rojas said, adding that they collected more than 1,000 items during a 2022 food drive.

She has shared the community garden GoFundMe and other information about the garden, including when people can volunteer, on the Wapato Proud and White Swan pages on Facebook. Rojas also plans to post when garden items are ready for harvest; at that point those who are interested can comment and make plans to come.

"The 'picking' process would be monitored (so there’s no overconsumption) and people will be on their way. It would also be on a first come-first serve basis," the GoFundMe summary says.

This is a first for them, so along with learning about plants and gardening, the Rojas sisters are seeking help from others. "I think the coolest thing is when people donate their skill set," Zenaida Rojas said. They plan to attend a Wapato City Council meeting to present their goals for the garden and get input.

Their work is serious — they want to help feed families in their community — but they are also enjoying themselves. "We want to have fun," she said.

Reach Tammy Ayer at [email protected].

Zenaida Rojas and her sisters are seeking donations to revive the Wapato Community Garden through GoFundMe at https://gf.me/v/c/nfh/wapato-community-garden.

They also need volunteers and items to get the garden going. Email [email protected] to donate items or get involved.

Items needed:

• shovels

• hoes

• sprinklers

• hoses

• gloves

• pruners

• edging tool

• rakes

• hole digger

• wheelbarrows

• trowels

• hedge shears

• aerator

• tape measure

• lumber

• watering can

• composting bins

• buckets

• weed killer

• Seeds for blueberries, roses, sunflowers, mint, cucumbers, carrots, corn, tomatoes, dill, peppers, cosmos, petunias, lettuce, cabbage, onions, garlic, cilantro, radishes, spinach, beans, peas, beets, snap dragons, apples, cherries, bell peppers and basil. Other suggestions are welcome.

Features/The Vanished Editor

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