When University of the Incarnate Word alum Stephen Lucke began conjuring the idea that would become Gardopia Gardens, he set out to improve public well-being and promote sustainable use of land. What follows is a tale of a collective’s power to bring a dream to life and support one another.
Gardopia Gardens, located on the East Side of San Antonio, provides educational programming to students about nutrition and agriculture while offering a safe haven for locals to cultivate their food, such as squash, figs and eggs.
To celebrate 10 years of his mission with Gardopia Gardens, Lucke hosted a documentary screening alongside a seed swap on Jan. 31. The documentary began as disconnected interviews, but Lucke now hopes to submit the work into festivals with the intention of raising enough funds to develop a feature-length version.
“It’s just about our past 10 years of growth and how we have positively impacted the community through the food system and through ecosystem change,” Lucke described. “A lot of people have been involved in this. It wasn’t just me. Of course, I was sort of the radical root, but since that point in time, so many other folks have come together to make this a reality.”
The documentary discusses the partnership of Lucke and Dominic Dominguez, who is currently pursuing a PhD in environmental science and engineering at UT San Antonio, as well as the transformation of a dirt lot located at 619 N. New Braunfels Ave. into the agricultural utopia it is today.
Despite the chilling temperatures, members of the community came together to indulge in the serendipity of seed swapping and learn more about the organization’s fateful beginnings.
The spirit of beautifying and educating the community rang true for San Antonio native and first-time Gardopia patron Maria Valdez.
“They have one landscaping area on Democracy Prep at Stuart,” Valdez commented. “I see them out there sometimes. It looks so beautiful the way they got it populated for the winter months, and I saw some of the crop that was coming out of it. So excited [about] the way they incorporate the science class, and they have the kids out there working at it as well.”
Lucke is not done innovating his program. He hopes to expand on what Valdez recognized at Democracy Prep and provide the Gardopia curriculum with all students in San Antonio.
“We want every kid in San Antonio to learn about where their food comes from and how they can take better care of this planet,” Lucke said. “That’s our next step. We got a fund from the USDA to turn our curriculum into videos, so we’re doing that right now.
“We are building a farm on the west side. We’re working with the UTSA Architecture Program to design the master plan of this property and really just integrating this into the fabric and the culture of San Antonio.”
Gardopia Gardens, located at 619 N. New Braunfels Ave., is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 9-11 a.m. on Saturday. The organization is hosting a volunteer activity on Feb. 7 at 9 a.m. For information on how to get involved, visit gardopiagardens.org.
