More than gardens grow.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

The fat tomatoes in Ana Guillen's garden are turning a saucy red, the pale green husks of the tomatillos slowly filling with sour fruit, the chili peppers hanging from sturdy stems.

Guillen works the soil with a cultivator, cutting off the roots of weeds here and there before stopping to pick a few tomatoes. A summer's worth of effort in her tidy plot at the Churchill Community Garden is paying off. Each week, she carries home ample bags of vegetables for the salads and fresh salsa that her four children and husband enjoy.

Guillen and her family participate in an obscure but growing program, Huerto de la Familia - the Family Garden. Huerto is Spanish for "kitchen garden." The nonprofit agency pairs Latinos with community garden plots and information about growing organic vegetables.

Huerto de la Familia, which rents space at FOOD for Lane County's gardens and at other community plots, will have a fundraiser today that will benefit the small group and the food bank.

Guillen had never worked her hands in the soil before she began gardening with help from Huerto de la Familia two years ago. But she loves working in the garden now, and not just because it provides her family with fresh produce. Guillen suffers from both diabetes and depression. The inclusion of vegetables in her diet has improved her physical health, and being in the garden buoys her spirits, she said.

That is music to Sarah Cantril's ears. Cantril founded Huerto de la Familia in 1999 on little more than a dream that she could make a difference.

With a master's degree in social work, Cantril had volunteered and worked for various social services agencies, including the Centro LatinoAmericano, and wanted to do something that combined her appreciation for Latino culture with her love of gardening.

She started with one plot at the Whiteaker Community Garden that six women shared. Huerto de la Familia became a formal nonprofit agency in 2004, with a board of directors, currently all Latinos. A flurry of grant writing has paid off this year with $14,500 in new support that will bring the annual budget up to $17,000.

The money comes from the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation, the Oregon Country Fair, the Meyer Memorial Trust and the Oregon Community Foundation.

For the past three years, agency participation has almost doubled each year, growing from seven families to 12 and then to 22. Five families currently are on a waiting list for a garden, Cantril said.

Huerto de la Familia pays most of the costs of the plots for the families, who pay just $5 or $10 each year to participate.

They also receive seeds and plant starts, gardening supplies, nutrition classes and a children's education program that offers age-appropriate gardening activities for kids.

Cantril built the program with small donations from the Lane County Extension Service's master gardener program, and supplies from local retailers, such as Jerry's Home Improvement, Down to Earth and Home Depot.

Master gardeners, who receive credit toward their certification for working with Huerto de la Familia clients, have continued helping the family gardeners.

Cantril's husband -Thomas Nesbit, a masonry contractor - has been her family's sole support during the nascent agency's startup.

Cantril said that as executive director, she will begin to receive a small salary sometime this year.

Cantril works with financially strapped families - most working in minimum wage jobs, who say the gardens help keep food on the table, especially toward the end of the month.

"Some have two, even three jobs," Cantril said. "We can only meet Sundays because families work six days a week," she said.

But the gardens do more than provide food.

Families tell Cantril that gardening together improves communication among family members and distracts them from worries.

"Some say they like it because it's a safe place to be outdoors," she said.

Others initially are suspicious, asking if the harvest really is theirs to keep. Cantril assures them that the fruits - and vegetables - of their labor belong to them.

Besides the help with gardening and nutrition classes, participants also are encouraged to attend the Lane County Extension Service's food preservation program, she said.

Today's fundraiser will include children's activities, juggler Tom Question, music, food and a garden tour.

GARDEN BENEFIT

Where: Churchill Community Garden, 2200 Bailey Hill Road. (Take West 18th Avenue to Bailey Hill and turn south. Take the right turn into the Kennedy Middle School parking lot. The garden is just below the lot.)

When: 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday

Suggested donation: $5 to $10

Want to garden? Contact Sarah Cantril at 687-0819.

CAPTION(S):

Ana Guillen and her family participate in Huerto de la Familia - the Family Garden. Guillen says being in her garden buoys her spirits. H u e r t o d e l a F a m i l i a