Tessa Horan Foundation
COMMUNITY GARDEN PROJECT
Mission Statement: The Tessa Horan Foundation has been inspired to develop educational programs that support people in at-risk, under-served communities where struggle is abundant. The garden project focus is to create teaching modules for parents and children who desire self-reliance and health awareness. This project will be a sustainable, educational asset that can be replicated around the world. We intend to help change the world by nurturing the people and the environment.
Acts of Beauty Exposed!
-Written and photographed by Charles Gandy, garden volunteer-
They did it because it felt good. They did it without the prospect of financial reward or recognition. They did it to make a personal contribution to the beauty of their community and to the reflected beauty in their lives.
And from their selfless contributions a garden is born. A collective act of beauty that deserves to be exposed, celebrated and recognized as a current day expression of com
The Tessa Horan Community Garden has ‘risen from an empty urban lot in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In response to a hundred hands shaping the land and preparing the soil, a gang of men moving rocks and roots, and a gaggle of women sowing the soil with seeds and nurturing their growth – a vegetable and edible flower garden was birthed this spring.
Squash, tomatoes, eggplant, and onions are bursting from the earth, growing inches every day. Basil, mint, parsley, tarragon, sage, and cilantro flourish in the rich soils lovingly mixed by hand. Kale, chard and spinach provide salad basics enhanced with green beans, sweet peas and snow beans. Marigolds, roses and day lilies delight the eye and help protect the young plants from insects. Grapes, apples, cherries and peaches grow as guardians on the perimeter of the garden.
Sustainable values are practiced in the garden. Insecticides aren’t deployed, mechanization avoided, building materials scrutinized to be free of chemicals. Recycled lumber to frame the beds was donated by local contractors. Water is provided sparingly from a neighbor’s well. Water barrels and roof gutters are ordered and expert volunteers are ready to install them. Native American planting techniques for growing in arid soils are being learned and used. The harvest is being shared with the Food Coop and Kitchen Angels of Santa Fe.
The vision and leadership for this “senseless act of beauty” comes from two remarkable women. Kristena Prater and Lehigh Sheppard share the responsibility for envisioning the idea, developing a plan of action, organizing the workdays, coordinating the volunteers, and overseeing the details of this amazing project.
Both report Kristena’s daughter and Lehigh’s close friend, Tessa Horan, inspired them. Tessa was one of those people who by her very being affected the lives of many. She was only 24 when, as a Peace Corp volunteer serving in the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific; she was tragically attacked and killed by a shark. During her brief life Tessa was an exemplary student, prolific artist, veteran ski patroller at Santa Fe Ski Basin, river guide on the Rio Grande, and a respected NOLS instructor. In short, she was living the words of Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Sheppard is a master gardener who is applying her technical knowledge and skills to the garden well – masterfully. Since before Easter she and her hearty gang toiled steadily to transform a dusty vacant lot into a bountiful explosion of life giving greens.
Prater is a skilled organizer who is nurturing the garden along using her long list of friends, their friends, colleagues and neighbors. She is finding, inviting and supporting young mothers to participate in the garden. Teaching self-sufficiency, nutrition and health consciousness are Prater’s main objectives.
Beyond Prater and Sheppard there is a core group of volunteers who deserve special attention for their contributions. Abbey Souza, Hasita Harrington and Carrie Dant along with their families are workday regulars. Kevin Horan, (Tessa’s father), and Cody Sheppard deserve much credit for contributing their construction skills to the project. Peggy Wright put her landscape architect skills to work for the overall garden design. Doug and Peggy McDowell have made quiet, significant contributions to the garden and continue to do so.
Neighbors Craig Fiels and Marta McBeth play the roles of utility infielders, doing whatever needs to get done without fanfare. Connie McGee generously provides water. Ron and Cate Adams donate the real estate.
Using this model, Prater and Sheppard intend to inspire and consult with others interested in creating community gardens where they live.
Most of the garden’s volunteers didn’t know each other before joining this community of gardeners. Hardly any of them had worked in a community garden before Tessa beckoned them to participate in hers. But now they share an identity, as founders of a beautiful community garden.
Maybe that is what it means to be a community - sharing an inspiration and organizing to achieve it.
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The Conception of the Garden
April Snow - Garden Under Construction
The Loyal Garden Crew
Lillies Planted In Memory of Tessa's Birthday March 20h 2006
Lehigh Sheppard and Kristena Prater
Imagined Garden Come True
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