If you drove past SW Warren on SW Huntoon Street, you might have looked left and noticed a community garden overflowing with produce and plants.
Bill Randall wants Topekans to consider the nutritional benefits of a vegetable garden and the importance of urban agriculture.
The 1 acre garden is on the corner of SW Warren and Huntoon, on land next to a house. Randall tends the vegetables for a few hours each day to ensure that the produce grows and harvest properly when the plants become fertile.
The garden has been in Topeka since 1938
According to Randall, the garden was first laid out in 1938 by William Cawker, a former Topeka fire chief.
Cawker bought the land with the intention of building a house, but instead built a victory garden when World War II caused food shortages.
Randall said Cawker managed the garden until he was 90 and sold it to Paula Quinley.
“Her grandparents were vegetable growers in Missouri, so she and her husband gardened it until 2004,” Randall said.
The garden has been under Randall’s management for 16 years.
Randall has always enjoyed gardening. He enjoys watching the vegetables grow and getting the chance to look after them.
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He’s not sure why his gardening calling is, but he finds the job fulfilling.
“Getting Americans to eat vegetables is one of the toughest jobs in the world.”
Vegetables are donated to neighbors, organizations
Randall spends several hours a week tending the garden and growing winter, spring and summer vegetables.
From tomatoes, peppers, spinach and romaine lettuce to green beans, pea pods, Black Magic kale and gourmet garlic, everything is at home in the garden.
Randall has sold the produce at the farmer’s market in the past, but now he tends to give the garden’s vegetables to the Topeka rescue mission or his neighbors.
“I learned early on that selling vegetables doesn’t make money,” said Randall. “America has the freshest and cheapest vegetables in the world. … It’s not really a money maker, it’s more of a calling.”
Randall said when he started gardening that people would stop by and ask to pick some vegetables to take home. That has declined over the years.
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“I used to have maybe a few people a day stop and talk about gardening or see what’s done,” Randall said. “I used to sit here and every pair of eyes looked like this. Not now. I think people are getting further and further away from the earth.”
What could be described as a lack of interest in community gardens isn’t going to stop Randall from continuing his efforts to promote the hobby and growing vegetables.
Randall founded Last Stand Brand to promote urban agriculture
Gardening, whether it’s growing vegetables or planting flowers, has immense physical, mental, and nutritional health benefits.
“The biggest hobby in the United States for Americans isn’t NFL. It’s not baseball. It’s not hockey. It’s not racing. It’s gardening,” Randall said. “More free time and money is spent on gardening than on any other activity in the United States. That’s a strong number. It shows that everyone has some attraction to it.”
Randall created a website, Last Stand Brand, with the intent of promoting urban vegetable growing and food security. The organization’s mission is to promote the use of urban soils for growing vegetables.
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The website has more than 70 videos with tips and tricks on growing vegetables and gardening. Randall will also be working on homeowner and business gardens to encourage gardening.
“It’s urban agriculture that is the cutting edge, so to speak,” Randall said. “You cannot be closer to your home than in your garden. Many of our vegetables will travel 1,500 miles by air. This is not good.”
