Rice Street gardeners trying to buy land, make greenspace permanent

Alberto Hernandez visits his organic garden plot in Maplewood nearly every day after work to check on his ripening tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.

"I enjoy seeing how my plants are growing," said Hernandez, who admits his phone is full of lush garden photos.

Hernandez grew up on a family farm in Mexico, so maintaining a garden is a way to stay connected to his heritage — and source the best ingredients for his homemade salsas.

Hernandez is one of 265 gardeners, often joined by their their extended families, who tend plots at the Rice Street Gardens in the Rice-Larpenteur neighborhood where Maplewood, Roseville and St. Paul intersect.

The garden, which largely serves residents of nearby apartments, has flourished for the past six years on leased land. Now, its founders are trying to make it a permanent neighborhood fixture.

"The goal is save all of this," said garden co-founder and neighborhood activist Kathryn Schneider during a recent tour.

The Board of Water Commissioners, doing business as St. Paul Regional Water Services, owns the property near the corner of Rice Street and Roselawn Avenue and agreed to allow Rice Street Gardens to use the land. In recent years, there's been growing interest in redeveloping the land into housing.

Schneider said that instead of fighting those ideas, community members are initiating talks with the landowner, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, nonprofit land trusts and other stakeholders to develop a portion of the property into housing while maintaining another part as a community garden.

Twin Cities Habitat spokesperson Regina Eckes confirmed the nonprofit is "pursuing a potential multi-family development opportunity at the property" but said no other details were immediately available.

Schneider estimates garden advocates will need to raise $1 million to have a seat at the negotiating table. They already have a $300,000 anonymous donation committed to the project, said garden co-founder and retired Honeywell executive Ron Peterson.

"There are a lot uncertainties," Peterson said.

But the community garden, which has become a bustling cultural crossroads where more than 10 languages are spoken including Hmong, Spanish and Nepali, is a neighborhood asset worth saving, Peterson said.

"Seventy percent of gardeners are immigrants. It's really important for those families," he said. "For older family members, it's a way to contribute to the family."

Originally, the property was home to a nursery with greenhouses. After it closed, the Board of Water Commissioners purchased the 13.3 acre parcel for $2.5 million in 2014, according to property records.

A small group of residents, with the help of nearby Galilee Lutheran Church, negotiated the use of the land for gardens in 2016. The Maplewood City Council approved that use.

Families pay $20 a year for a 16-by-20-foot plot. McCarron's Pub & Grill, next to the site, allows gardeners to use their well water. All garden plots must be organic and everything grown must be for personal use.

Yukiko Nakajima grew up in Japan and Singapore and plants hard-to-find Asian vegetables at Rice Street Gardens. Nakajima's partner plants "The Three Sisters" — corn, squash and beans — a nod to his Native American ancestry.

"This is a connection to your cultural roots," said Nakajima, a psychiatric nurse practitioner .

It's also a place where gardeners share their cultures and cuisines with others, Nakajima said. Gardening and cooking is a "healing practice."

"A lot of immigrants and refugees use this garden. So many have been displaced multiple times in their lives," Nakajima said. "I would do anything to keep this garden."