Planting is well underway at the First Baptist Church on the city's north side. Urban farm fields take up a few acres on the edge of the church property. There is a greenhouse where plants are sprouting and an old barn to store equipment. A few people are busy planting collard greens on this spring day.
Kitty Beckman is the founder and executive director of Helpings of Hope, a nonprofit urban farm operation that started with a few volunteers more than a decade ago. She said they are prioritizing planting vegetables that may be less familiar in Indiana. That includes African vegetables, including a leafy variety called linga linga.
"And then we have what's called a sour leaf, and then we have African eggplant, and then a sweet potato leaf," Beckman said.
The nonprofit sells affordable food at farm stands, helps establish community gardens where people can grow their own food, and provides cooking education. This summer it also took over the John Boner Community Center's urban farm on the near east side, part of the organization's goal to create more satellite farms.
Read more at WFYI