5th Grader Starts Garden To Feed His Poor Family, But Now He Has Way Bigger Plans

Austin King or more commonly known as the Young Urban Gardener, has taken an initiative that most of us won’t even think of.

He wants to feed anyone who is hungry!

Crazy, right? But this 5th grader has already started his mission. It started with his family. They were so poor that they didn’t have enough food or resources to feed an entire family. All they had was rice and beans. Austin’s smile fades when he recollects the harsh conditions his family used to live with. Then one fine day, he just made up his mind to do something.

“I took my mamma’s beans out of the cabinet because we didn’t have much to eat”, says Austin. “All we had was rice and those bags of beans… It was like a very small bag of beans, not even enough to feed everybody, so I had to make enough.”

His wise and practical approach is undoubtedly beyond his years. He dug his backyard and sowed the beans there. According to Austin, all he knew about gardening was “water, dirt, and sunshine.” The result was instantaneous.

Within a week, small plants started shooting out from the soil. With the support of a wooden stake, Austin made sure that the bean plants would grow stronger and higher. These plants were enough to provide beans for his whole family the whole winter. Ever since his plants started giving fruit, his family stopped buying beans completely.

“I haven’t bought a bag of beans since,” says Austin’s mom, Dorothea.

Austin is very enthusiastic about his little garden. Three years have passed since that fateful day. Now his garden is full of many herbs and fruits like jalapenos peppers, carrots, raspberries, sweet potatoes, and turmeric. He even has a YouTube channel through which he shares his tricks and experiences about growing different types of fruits and vegetables.

Things took a better turn when Austin discovered an empty plot in his neighbourhood. Overgrown weeds and bushes were the only things that grew there. On asking around, he discovered the owner of the plot and asked her permission to use it as a community garden.

Soon enough, Austin started working hard. Right after school, he went there and did the weeding and digging. His motto is “I’ll grow it. You’ll pick it.” He decided to grow food for anyone who is hungry, not just his family.

However, the best part was the change in relationships among the neighbours. Very quickly, others started joining him with their tools. There is a sense of community service in the society thanks to this little garden. These people have come forward to help Austin’s dream come true- to feed whosoever needs to be fed. Different people from different backgrounds are eager to help Austin and give back to the community.

“My first idea was I could stop world hunger from this,” says Austin. The young urban gardener knows how huge his dream is, but hey- this is only the beginning. We’re pretty sure this young man will go places. After all, he knows how to sow the seeds for everyone!

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