Grow & Inspire

These gardens harvest more than food

By Tessa Marguerite Outland
November 2021

Three Sisters Gardens is a growing nonprofit in West Sacramento that transforms its community from the roots up.

Alfred Melbourne, executive director and founder of Three Sisters Gardens, is a proud Native American of the Hunkpapa Lakota tribe. Melbourne was born and raised in West Sacramento, and spent 18 years in prison beginning at the age of 19. When he returned home to West Sac five years ago, he saw many young people following his troubled path.

He decided to do something about it.

“I was trying to piece together what was happening, and how it was happening,” Melbourne says. “I knew there had to be some kind of a change in our community… and by someone that looks like them and has been through the ringer. ”

To support, inspire and empower young people in the neighborhood, Melbourne looked to the earth. He founded the nonprofit Three Sisters Gardens in 2018 to help at-risk youth, advocate to reform the criminal justice system and support unhoused people through gardening.

With volunteers, the gardens embrace native and indigenous ways to grow food and care for the land. Only organic farming methods are used, no chemicals or pesticides.

The name Three Sisters refers to the companion crops of corn, beans and squash. These have been planted by traditional Native American gardeners in many different regions of North America. The three crops form an ecosystem by creating a community of plants. The system creates a beneficial relationship, with each helping the others grow.

For three years, Melbourne says the gardens have experienced bountiful harvests and a growing bond in the neighborhood. “Just like the corn, beans and squash grow together perfectly, in our community, youth adults and elders need to work together to grow perfectly to rebuild our community,” he says.

Three Sisters Gardens began on a small donated plot—about an eighth of an acre—in West Sacramento. The nonprofit now occupies three other urban farms throughout West Sac, totaling 1.15 acres. “We have four, we want 50,” Melbourne says. “So that we can grow resiliency and sustainability around food sovereignty for people who are food insecure.”

One opportunity to expand is at the former City Tree Nursery, a site owned by the city of Sacramento. Last year, the city entered into a lease agreement with Oakland-based Planting Justice for the 5-acre site in the James Mangan Park neighborhood on 34th Avenue. Planting Justice is partnering with Three Sisters Gardens to bring life back to the land.

Three Sisters Gardens also collaborates with UC Davis students. John Palagud is a second-year transfer student at the UCD College of Agriculture and Ecological Sciences. Along with two other students, he volunteers at Three Sisters Gardens, working with young people and supporting the gardens.

Palagud leads a small group in harvesting, bed prepping, weeding and in the free farm stand held on Tuesdays. Palagud maintains farm schedules and crop rotations. He also handles grant writing.

Palagud says young people between the ages of 13 and 24 are welcome to come and learn how to grow and nurture food, talk about food, environmental issues and injustice, and work in a team setting.

“A lot of folks in our community have never really grown anything before, so we’re taking it back to basics,” Melbourne says. “The youngsters are able to participate in that process.”

“It has been amazing to see the growth of Three Sisters Gardens and the youths in just the past few months,” Palagud says. “And I am excited for what the future will bring with all the exciting developments we have in store.”
Melbourne agrees: “We just want a place to grow food and take care of ourselves.”

To sign up, donate or volunteer, visit 3sistersgardens.com.

Tessa Marguerite Outland can be reached at tessa.m.outland@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @insidesacramento.