LAKEPORT, Calif. – Tucked into a corner of the Lake County Tribal Health Consortium grounds in Lakeport is a brand new garden space – dedicated to sunshine, healthy food and holistic wellness.
The large garden features hand-built vegetable boxes, a gazebo and a fountain, as well as picnic benches – both in adult size and even smaller, pint-sized ones built especially for children.
The garden's presence was celebrated with a dinner and ribbon cutting on May 29 as part of the Family Garden Club's third annual grand opening, with native families gathering this past Wednesday night to begin filling the boxes with plants.
The club's goal is to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables for the native community through gardening. The organic farming program runs from May to October every year at the consortium grounds, located on 925 Bevins Court in Lakeport.
Within a very short time it's expected that the garden will be a flowering oasis of herbs and vegetables, grown by patients and class members seeking to improve their health and reap the benefits to both mind and body that come from connection with the earth.
For native peoples like the local Pomo, that earth connection has long been an intrinsic part of culture.
But in modern times, where cell phones, social media, television and other distractions compete for attention, being outside or even involved in the everyday growing of food isn't as common as it once was.
The idea behind the garden is to help change that fact, and put people back in control of their own food sources and choice, an increasingly critical issue for a native population seeing higher rates of diabetes and related diseases.
The consortium's Family Garden Club had had a small space elsewhere on the grounds that has been used for gardening in the past, according to Refugio Rosas, Lake County Tribal Health Consortium's community engagement coordinator.
As the consortium considered creating the bigger garden space, Executive Director Ernesto Padilla saw the opportunity to bring together a lot of the organization's projects in creating the garden space – including the job skills program.
The job skills program members faced increasingly hot weather and a short time frame in the task of putting together the garden.
However, Padilla said they completed the work of building the plant and vegetable boxes, erecting the gazebo, building the benches and installing the irrigation in just two and a half weeks.
The results, however, don't look rushed, but show attention to detail, craftsmanship and careful planning about how the space will be used by community members of all ages – from children to elders.
“It will be a great addition to Lake County Tribal Health,” Padilla said.
During the May 29 grand opening, Sarah Ryan, the environmental director for Big Valley Rancheria in Lakeport, encouraged gardening participants to implement permaculture, water conservation and reuse, and composting, use heirloom seeds and to participate in land conservation.
Paula Britton, environmental director for the Habematolel Pomo in Upper Lake, recounted how gardening helped save her during a particularly tough time in her life.
It also reconnected her with the land. “We're native people. We need that connection with the earth.”
Noting she feels better when she's outside, Britton added, “Gardening for health is so important.”
Gardening also is good for the environment, and Britton encouraged people to pay attention to native pollinators, which is especially important due to the ongoing bee die-off. “We really need to be worried about this.”
Both Ryan and Britton emphasized how gardening puts people back in control of their food supply.
Family garden club member Sandra Montgomery encouraged people to use the new garden space, noting not just the good impacts on individuals but on the community.
“We really need to be united like our ancestors were,” with an emphasis on caring for each other, she said.
The consortium serves both native and non-native populations, said Rosas, with a large – and continually expanding – number of wellness and medical services at its Lakeport location and satellite clinics in Middletown and Clearlake.
Within just the past six months or so the consortium has added pharmacy services, with Rosas adding that it's the largest pre-hospital medical facility of its kind in the county.
With the emphasis on health comes the increasing focus on wellness and prevention, and the garden is the consortium's latest manifestation of that effort.
“It's an exciting time for us,” said Rosas.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
