Lamont Harris, 9, uses leg and arm power to haul over a wheelbarrow. The archway in front of him was built and tiled by the Living Witness Men. The St. John Peace Park and Community Garden was a longtime dream of Daughter of Charity Sister Marion Brett, who is recuperating after suffering a recent stroke. (Photo by Elizabeth A. Perry)

In a once-empty lot in the middle of Central City sits St. John Peace Park and Community Garden, a 5,700 square-foot oasis of colorful blooms, sprouting vegetables and leafy greens still in the ground. There is even a hive that was built by honeybees overnight sitting in one of the saplings. The beauty of the garden rests in sharp contrast with the litter and liquor bottles in the surrounding neighborhood.

"We're trying to bring awareness to the community garden," said Americorps volunteer Benjamin Legrand, one of two co-chairs in the development of the garden project.

We live in a violent neighborhood. People are living in blighted buildings and dying from lack of medical care. We are trying to revitalize the neighborhood and continue Sister Marion's legacy. The Peace Park will be a safe space where people can come, relax and congregate."

Most of the funding for the garden comes through individual donations and grants, such as the one the community center received in January from the National Garden Association for seeds, tools, plants and instructional materials. Students from LSU's School of Occupational Therapy have assisted in grant-writing, gathered supplies and helped plant. Eventually the center hopes to raise enough money to add on an Educational Pavilion, which will cost $30-40,000.

THE GARDEN was the dream child of Sister Marion Brett, former director of St. John Community Center, who was adamant about farming the land behind the center and creating a community garden. The land is held by the Mississippi River Bridge Authority and the State of Louisiana, however an agreement was reached with the center early last year, enabling the center to go forward with the garden in the fall.

In October 2002, just one month before work was scheduled to begin on the garden, Sister Brett suffered a major stroke and was unable to continue with the center.

Sister Brett's enthusiasm was contagious, as organizations and individuals lent their support to the project.

A Metairie nursery donated a landscape design and Legrand secured the help of Rummel and LSU students, neighborhood residents and other volunteers to clear the land of debris and build flower and vegetable beds. The Living Witness Men built a walkway and a beautiful wooden archway, decorated with hundreds of colorful tiles in a mosaic pattern. Younger children who are part of the center's after school program helped plant seeds in small paper cups, while the center's adult clients pitched in with the heavier work.

"There is very little green space in the area," said garden development co-chair Shannon Mangum. "Beauty had to be involved in it. It gives people the opportunity to be a part of it. Schools and churches can adopt a bed and plant and water it whenever they want. It's a metaphor for potential growth that things can change."

On a spring Friday afternoon Mangum brought in lettuce, carrots, radishes and bottles of salad dressing and set about preparing a healthy afternoon snack for some of the young garden volunteers. Many of the children were 9, the age in which cookies, candy and soda are preferred over broccoli and string beans. Surprisingly, the children ate enthusiastically while Mangum explained that they were eating vegetables just like the ones they planted that day.

THE GARDEN has proven to be an interesting learning ground for children and adults alike. When asked what their favorite vegetables were, the children said everything from green beans to corn and limas. All of the children who liked vegetables were growing up in families where their parents served them often and encouraged their children to like them as well. When one child said his favorite vegetable was tomatoes, another responded, "Tomatoes are a fruit, not a vegetable," much to the delight of the adults present.

It's not just children who have learned a thing or two as a result of the garden project. Volunteer on-site garden coordinator Jeffrey Hughes came to St. John's Community Center in January 2002, homeless and suffering from bipolar depression.

With a little encouragement from Sister Brett he went to work on the garden every Friday, assisting Legrand and the kids in the neighborhood. Today he is studying for his GED, knows his way around a computer and gives talks about the garden to organizations. Another skill he learned from the Internet was how to design and plant a butterfly garden, which occupies one of the beds.

"Gardening gives me peace of mind," said Hughes. "I can forget about everything. These plants are like my babies."