'We Got This Garden' in Milwaukee; teaching kids patience, persistence

MILWAUKEE - The rainy, gloomy weather didn't stop young people from working in a beloved community garden in Milwaukee on Saturday morning, June 22.

The "We Got This Garden" is located near 9th and Ring. Each Saturday in the summer, kids from the neighborhood work in the garden and get paid. 

Despite her name, Beautie Davis isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty. 

"As you see right here, it’s strawberries," said Beautie Davis. "We just weed them and take out the roots."

She rips roots to make room for something greater.

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"Plant flowers, plant zucchini, tomatoes, anything," said Davis.

Beautie is one of the dozens of kids working at the We Got This Garden on Saturday morning.

Kids from the neighborhood learn the basics of gardening. 

"Different ways to grow vegetables, what time, what months, what seasons," said Madison Hibbler, We Got This Garden. 

"We meet for 12 weeks in the summer. On Saturdays from eight to noon. Have anywhere between 75 and 100 kids come out. The bonus is they each get paid for coming,"said Alex Bruzan, We Got This Garden. 

The wet, gloomy morning didn’t slow these young people down. 

Andre Lee Ellis founded the We Got this Garden before passing it on to the neighborhood. 

Alex Bruzan leads the garden and says they have added 2,000 square feet of new growing spaces this summer. 

"Really special thing for a kid to be able to see the seeds they planted June 8, and they get to pull a cucumber in the middle of July," said Bruzan. "There’s lots of good things that happen in 53206."

Data shows that the 53206 zip code area is one of the most incarcerated zip codes in the nation. There are also health and poverty concerns. 

"Really trying to change the narrative over here," said Bruzan. 

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On Saturday morning, some Milwaukee police officers helped out and connected with the group. 

"I just love doing this. It’s important to me," said Davis. 

"We’re a very strong community. We stick together. We’re basically like family," said Hibbler.  

We Got This has expanded to four garden spaces. They plan to giveaway fruits and vegetables at the end of the season to those who need it.