Little Red Door's community garden focuses on healthy produce that reduce cancer risk. The garden includes a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs that contain specific vitamins and minerals containing antioxidant properties that may reduce the risk of cancer. We have chosen to make our garden as organic as possible to further reduce exposure to cancer causing elements.
Our community garden is located in front of our building on 18th and Meridian in Downtown Indianapolis. Anyone is welcome to pick from our garden so come down and visit us. Click to view our garden flyer that is offered to all that visit our garden. If you would like more information or volunteer to help with the garden, please call (317) 925-5595.
Little Red Door Plants Healthy Garden in Urban Neighborhood
By Jenny Anchondo Fox59 on June 24, 2011
If you think keeping a garden in your own back yard is tough, try planting one at the edge of a busy Indianapolis street, in front of your business. Little Red Door Cancer Agency did just that, in an effort to provide nutrient-rich foods to people who need them.
“The fruits, vegetables and herbs in the garden were all selected because there is some evidence that they have a chance to lower your risk of cancer,” according to Fred Duncan with Little Red Door. “The garden is managed and run by volunteers. Everything from the planting to the weeding is done by people who donate their time.” Duncan said most businesses have landscaping surrounding their buildings anyway, so they might as well use that land to raise food for the community. "We thought it'd be fun to take our front beds, convert it into a community garden, prove to the folks downtown that you can actually raise vegetables in a very small plot on the corner of a very busy intersection at 18th and Meridian," Duncan said.
They don't use any weed control or pesticides because they said they're trying to keep the produce as organic as possible. The food from the garden is free for anyone who wants it. The lettuce is ready right now. It will go bad if it isn't used, so they encourage you to take advantage of it. "It is cut and come again. You can cut it, break it off the bottom and then you have lettuce, rinse it off and you have a nice little salad. Get a burger from McDonalds. Make it a little healthier by getting some lettuce on it from our garden," said Little Red Door’s Gerri Pagash.
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