The land this garden is on, between 5th and 6th Street and Garfield and McKinley, used to be just a vacant lot. However a local community group saw it instead as an opportunity
Years ago you’d drive through here and you’d never imagine you’d see field of gold. The oasis is in a rather unlikely spot. The 2-acre garden is practically large enough for 5-year-old Renee Houser to get lost in.
“Oh my gosh there’s thousands of flowers out here in the middle of nowhere!” exclaims mom Nicole Houser.
It’s called the Valley of the Sunflowers Project, a partnership between the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation and the nearby Phoenix Union Bioscience High School.
“This project is really about inspiring people and sunflowers make people smile,” says Braden Kay, Sunflowers Project Manager.
The seeds were planted back in September and every Saturday since then volunteers have been out here tending to them, nurturing them so they can be harvested.
“What we’ll do is take these seeds, press these seeds for oil, and then the bioscience class will make these seeds into biodiesel,” says Kay.
They’ll then use the biodiesel to power a solar powered hybrid car they're creating in class -- a teaching tool for students and little Renee.
“Not only do they provide food for herself and the birds but eventually they’ll provide biodiesel fuel for cars,” says Houser.
She hopes this idea of transforming vacant lots into something beautiful catches on -- and it sounds like it already has.
We ran into another group out there partnering with the county. They plan to build a garden on a 4-acre lot near 8th Street and Jefferson.
Meanwhile that sunflower garden will be replanted in February.
FOX NEWS
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