Alice's Garden in Milwaukee; plants, people, perspective thrive

MILWAUKEE - Crops and community are blossoming at Alice’s Garden on Milwaukee’s north side.  

"It’s sanctuary. It’s a safe space. It’s for everyone who wants to enjoy the beauty and the magic of this city," Executive Director Venice Williams said about the garden in early June.  

Whether she’s spreading aromatic cocoa bean shell mulch or accepting help from a child to spray the soil, Williams makes it clear plants are not the only things thriving in the garden.

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"I have definitely been cultivated by the plant world," she said. "I am who I am because of what I grow and my relationship with the soil" 

Alice’s Garden, which sits near 21st and Garfield, has been around for more than half a century. The space allows people to slow down, connect with nature and grow their own foods.  

"I love most I get to control what goes into my food," Crystal Ayad said.   

Families and organizations can rent plots to grow whatever they want.  

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"We want this space activated as much as we can, during our very short growing season," Williams said.  

Each week in the summer, Williams teaches an herbal apprenticeship course. A lesson in June focused on how herbs affect the body’s microbiome.  

"Every time I leave I just feel rejuvenated. I feel really peaceful," Elisabeth Baird said while standing in garden.  

Alice’s Garden is rooted in empowerment.  

"People want to give me credit for doing something incredible, and I just laugh. The soil is doing me a favor," Williams said while working in the garden. "The community is doing me a favor by allowing me to cultivate this space." 

People leave with peace and a perspective that grows outside the garden.