With a mild-to-warm climate year-round, Harris County is the perfect place for gardening. Okra, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, and lettuce are only some of the foods grown at Precinct 4’s three community gardens. Depending on the gardener, a plot may be filled with anything from green beans to flowers.

Anyone can sign up for a plot at two of the community centers — Burnett Bayland and Freed. The third community garden is reserved for seniors and is located at Glazier Senior Education Center. Applications are reviewed yearly during the summer, and if approved, the resident has control over their plot for one year, starting in September.

Residents don’t need to be a horticulturist to make full use of the plots. Many who currently use the gardens have learned a lot from their plot-neighbors, who are happy to share their knowledge — and sometimes their harvests. Here are just a few of their stories.

Christiane Hile began using the garden after her friend, who has a plot, recommended that she look into it. Before starting her plot, Christiane had only grown herbs and flowers, but she knew many gardeners and wasn’t afraid to jump into something new. Now, she says it’s an addiction, and she’s also built new relationships.

“I had what I thought was a weed, but my garden neighbors — they're from Pakistan — explained this weed was actually amaranth,” said Christiane. “I didn't keep it, and they wanted it. So, we took it out and put it in their plot, and they told me that they make a curry from it. They actually made me a curry, came to my house, and gave it to me.”

Bill Packard’s father and great-uncle taught him to garden. Growing up, they had a vegetable garden where he would spend summers helping his family members weed and water. Bill looks back on those summers fondly and is passing down that same love of gardening to his nearly five-year-old granddaughter.

His granddaughter has spent nearly two years helping him with the community garden plot. He’s taught her how to plant vegetables, weed, and water. But for the two of them, visiting the garden isn’t about work; it’s about bonding with each other.

“Almost every weekend she'll come over,” said Bill. “We always go ride the swing set, then we go to the garden. She'll help me plant — I always get her to plant something so she can see it coming up. She’ll help me harvest. If it's really hot, I'll shoot her with a garden house.”

Elizabeth Abraham is the gardener everyone comes to for advice. She joined the Freed community garden when she moved to Spring Branch in 2016 because she didn’t have space at home to grow vegetables.

Now, she grows a wide range of fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and even peanuts (which she said were planted by the squirrels). Her community garden friends rave about the giant green beans she grows and her knowledge on the best fertilizer to use, but she didn’t just learn from trial and error — she took classes.

“As an immigrant, I wanted to grow food from my native country,” said Elizabeth, who was born in India. “I took Master Gardener and Master Naturalist classes to better understand Houston’s soil, climate, and growing conditions. When I became a mother, I became more conscious of food and its health implications, which led me to pursue organic gardening.”

Residents are invited to community garden workdays at Freed and Glazier to help with the plots, ask questions, and learn great tips for their own gardens. For those who do not want their own plot but still want to learn, community centers across the Precinct offer gardening classes year-round.