Community Garden Grows Into Market

The options of produce in the Sioux Empire got a little fresher this weekend.  Members of the Somali-Bantu Community began their very own farmer’s market.

The ‘New American Garden Market’ has been a year in the making. It all started as a tiny community garden which was created to help immigrants and refugees feel a little more at home.

Rows and rows of tomatoes and peppers grow in gardens. These plants are giving those who tend to them a little piece of home.

Abul Sidow, Executive Director of the Somali-Bantu Community said,” I am feeling very, very, energetic and very excited.”

Sidow decided last year it was time to give the Somali-Bantu refugees and immigrants a chance to thrive in a place so foreign to them.

“My philosophy was to facilitate their resettlement in a way that they can feel happy in their new home community,” Sidow said.

Last summer, the community garden was home to only 12 raised beds that were harvested by 12 families. Now, thanks to the generosity of businesses around Sioux Falls and a grant from the federal government, there are over 100 gardens and 44 families.

Thirty-two of them are now selling their veggies at the farmer’s market.

For the men and women who tend to these gardens, they said being able to share their produce with the rest of the Sioux Empire makes this project that much more fulfilling.”

Burna Durund is one of them.

“We are selling, zucchini, eggplant, lettuce and other things,” Durund said.

Durund and her husband are refugees from Bhutan, a small South Asian country that’s located at the eastern end of the Himalayas. She said even though it’s nice to make a little extra money from selling the vegetables, it’s really all about giving back to the community.

“We grow all of this without any chemical, so it’s fresh, and it’s good for their health,” Durund smiled.

Who would have thought a box of dirt and a few seeds could go such a long way? Sidow said it’s even exceeded his expectations.

The ‘New American Garden Market’ is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays. It’s located in the parking lot of the Hy-Vee on east 10th street. The market will run through mid-October.

As a part of the program, the participants of this community garden and market took a six month training course designed by South Dakota State University Extension.

Next year, the goal is to add 20 more families to the program.