“We must cultivate our garden,” wrote the French philosopher Voltaire in his satirical novel “Candide yet there was little satire meant in that closing sentiment. The idea of small groups of people finding a literal common ground is not new. It offers a venue for sharing their struggles to maintian a meaningful life in the often-bizarre wider world. That connection is a need even more cogent today than in Voltaire’s pre-industrial age. Locally, filling that need is what’s taking shape in the form of Grandin Gardens.
Begun four years ago with the purchase of 1.1 acres and four buildings near the post office on Grandin Road, Grandin Gardens is actually several entities rolled into a single enterprise, and it is still evolving. It is in keeping with the vision of Pete Johnson Jr., one of the owners, who sees a time, not so distant, when Grandin Gardens and its partners can be called an eco-village, “an alternative to sprawl and mall.”
Eco-villages are, simply put, free-standing, self-sustaining communities. There is no recipe for them because each community and its resources are different. The single uniting factor for eco-villages is the belief in local abundance, that what is needed is within reach.
“I’m not a utopian,” says Johnson. “We’re an enterprise, and we want to develop local enterprises.”
Part of this plan to develop responsible local businesses has already resulted in the Local Roots Café, which uses produce from the gardens and area organic farms to craft tasty meals. The linkage of a restaurant to the gardens and those farms provides the critical functions of supply and demand for all involved.
The restaurant, gardens and farms maintain an independence from the sometimes-turbulent food supply chain, growing food for both self-sustenance and commerce, with the restaurant creating jobs and demand for the farm goods.
Local Roots also serves another critical mission of the eco-village vision, that of public awareness. Behind every meal served at Local Roots is the belief that organic, whole foods make you better in numerous ways.
That belief evolved into a partnership with two Roanoke City Elementary Schools, Grandin Court and Fishburn, to provide environmental programs that center around growing their own whole foods.
Likewise, many of the businesses housed on the grounds are centered on “building a better person.” Massage, holistic medicine, meditation and an emphasis on the arts are surrounded by currants, spinach, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, and other varieties of produce too numerous to mention.
Through all the growing seasons, the Gardens have been growing connections that grow community. Johnson has great praise for area organizations such as the Grandin Village Business Association and Roanoke Neighborhood Services.
“Bob Clement (of Roanoke Neighborhood Services, a Roanoke City agency) does a great job with that,” says Johnson.
There is still much to be accomplished, according to Johnson: such as a center for educating people about growing their own food in urban centers, a media center for responsible communications, a health center. These are just a few of the plans envisioned for Grandin Gardens. As the project move forward, says Johnson, the greater vision of self-sustaining eco-villages throughout Roanoke will progress as well.
“We want to mature this function,” he says, “[and] we feel what we are doing is replicable in any setting, urban or rural.”
