Grow & Inspire THESE GARDENS HARVEST MORE THAN FOOD
Photos by Linda Smolek
T
hree Sisters Gardens is a growing nonprofit in West Sacramento that transforms its community from the roots up. Alfred Melbourne, executive director and founder of Three Sisters Gardens, is a proud Native American of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe. Melbourne was born and raised in West Sacramento, and spent 18 years in prison beginning at the age of 19. When he returned home to West Sac five years ago, he saw many young people following his troubled path. He decided to do something about it. “I was trying to piece together what was happening, and how it was happening,” Melbourne says. “I knew there had to be some kind of a change in our community… and by someone that looks like them and has been through the ringer.”
TMO By Tessa Marguerite Outland Farm-to-Fork
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To support, inspire and empower young people in the neighborhood, Melbourne looked to the earth. He founded the nonprofit Three Sisters Gardens in 2018 to help at-risk youth, advocate to reform the criminal justice system and support unhoused people through gardening. With volunteers, the gardens embrace native and indigenous ways to grow food and care for the land. Only organic farming methods are used, no chemicals or pesticides. The name Three Sisters refers to the companion crops of corn, beans and squash. These have been planted by traditional Native American gardeners in many different regions of North America. The three crops form an ecosystem by creating a community of plants. The system creates a beneficial relationship, with each helping the others grow. For three years, Melbourne says the gardens have experienced bountiful harvests and a growing bond in the neighborhood. “Just like the corn, beans and squash grow together perfectly, in our community, youth, adults and elders need to work together to grow perfectly to rebuild our community,” he says. Three Sisters Gardens began on a small donated plot—about an eighth of an acre—
Alfred Melbourne
