Aaron Ammons has turned the greater part of the backyard at his north Urbana home into an organic garden. His wife Carol, and their sons Jelani and Amir, actively maintain the family's garden along with Aaron.Aaron's love of gardening developed as a boy and was sparked by an aunt from Chicago (see Aaron talk about his initiation into gardening in the video below).
Aaron gardens today for a multitude of reasons including staying fit, eating healthy and saving money. Learn more about why Aaron gardens in the video below.
Aaron is also a community organizer. Inspired by a class he took with Professor Ken Salo at the University of Illinois, Aaron started to interview other African American gardeners in Urbana. He talked to them about their gardening tips as well as the role gardening can play in building community and the sharing of important information. Learn more about Aaron's community garden mapping project in the video below.
Aaron has put his map on-line at the City of Champaign's Champaign Tomorrow website. Click on "Urban Gardens" in the list of maps. To connect with Aaron, email him at this address: livingsoul@sbcglobal.net
This story was posted by Kimberlie Kranich of Illinois Public Media. If you'd like to post stories to this blog, please contact me at: kranich@illinois.edu. We are looking for volunteers! We will train you. It's easy.
Amir eats fresh broccoli while Aaron looks on.
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