Bayard, NM- The National Center for Frontier Communities (NCFC) has signed a 15-year lease with the City of Bayard to re-establish the Bayard Community Garden, a major step toward strengthening food security, education, and local resilience in the Mining District.
The garden, which will be located adjacent to the Bayard Public Safety Building, is the result of years of community-driven planning, surveying, and engagement led by Frontier Food Hub (FFH), a program of NCFC. Developed together with residents from across the Mining District, the project is supported by a four-year USDA Community Food Project grant awarded in 2023.
To ensure the project is centered on local voices and lived experience, FFH has recruited a Steering Committee made up of local Mining District residents. Since its inception, this project has coordinated gardening workshops, a district-wide Salsa Showdown and surveyed over 300 participants to better understand the attitudes, ideas and needs of Mining District residents.
In partnership with Cobre School District, this project also supports the "Journey Through the Food System" initiative¬¬– an innovative program that brings together over nine local nonprofits to help students explore how food moves from seed to plate. The initiative aims to spark curiosity and engagement with the local food system and the environment around them.
"This project builds on years of local food system work and has been designed in collaboration with the community to bring economic development, greater food access and a more relational and localized food system" says Ben Rasmussen, NCFC CEO.
More than a garden, the Bayard Community Garden aims to eventually include a greenhouse training center. This center will help increase the ability of the Mining District to feed itself, direct its future and will provide training, education and employment opportunities by the end of 2027. This project aims to empower residents of all ages by offering a space to grow food and to learn essential skills in sustainable agriculture, all the while providing a vibrant community gathering place. As for the location, the Bayard Community Garden and Greenhouse Training Center will be constructed at the site of the original community garden, located along Central Avenue adjacent to the Bayard Fire Station.
This re-establishment is especially meaningful to Frontier Food Hub's Community Engagement Coordinator, Elysha Montoya. "My mom, Loretta Marrufo, was the driving force behind the original Bayard Community Garden. I grew up in Bayard and one of my favorite after-school programs was the Gardening Club. We would walk the trail from the school to the garden. It was the best part of the week because it meant we were about to get our hands dirty and be around plants. To be a part of the effort to bring this beautiful space back to our community is wonderful.
"We are grateful for the vision and collaboration of the Bayard City Council. It's a fantastic, forward-looking opportunity to build community and food security. We are fortunate to work with numerous partners in the community including the Steering Committee and The Commons Center for Food Security and Sustainability to work toward a shared vision that provides food, nutrition, knowledge, training, job development, beautification and a space to gather for all Mining District residents." said Ben Rasmussen, CEO of National Center for Frontier Communities.
This project is not without challenges, however. Since signing the lease, the USDA has temporarily suspended NCFC's CFP grant. While this isn't the only source of support for the project, it is substantial component that will require some creative thinking and potential recalibration.
"Our funds were frozen without warning", Rasmussen says. "Because we proposed to center this project on local voices and form a steering committee, they flagged the award as an 'equity award' despite the fact that the main purpose of this grant is to support the local food economy and provide education, training and employment. Our funding is currently suspended, and we are unsure if or when it will be reinstated."
Despite these challenges, NCFC is committed to moving forward to whatever extent they are able.
"While we are working with some uncertainty around funding right now, we will be cautiously moving forward as our capacity and resources allow. We have designs, community support and a strong desire to bring this project to fruition". Rasmussen added.
The next steps for the garden involve building a shade structure and a fence, bringing in native fruit/nut trees and setting up garden beds. Later to follow are hoop houses, the greenhouse and more.
Bayard Community Garden has a Facebook/Instagram @BayardCommunityGarden so the community can follow along with the exciting progress.
For more information about Frontier Food Hub or their parent non-profit, National Center for Frontier Communities, please contact
