Food should be free. 
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That’s the belief that Maria Onofre, a lead volunteer gardener at the Del Rio Community Garden holds dear.  She’s not talking about groceries, though, or food from a restaurant.  Maria believes that the skill of gardening and raising crops – once a vital aspect of American living – has largely been lost in American culture.  We now rely on large, company-owned farms and grocery stores for our food, but that hasn’t always been the case.

​The Del Rio Community Garden, situated adjacent to Brown Plaza in South Del Rio, launched last November with a kick-off “Bounty & Brew” festival.  Local Texas beer and foods were served, with the help of several local businesses and ranches.  Since then, several other events have been thrown at the garden, including a pop-up beer garden social with a live band, local “vine” (wine-tasting) festival, and a women’s class for homesteading, with the proceeds of donation-driven events benefiting the non-profit Del Rio Parks Foundation.

Maria believes that every family should learn how to grow food in their backyard garden.  “You don’t have to grow everything you need,” she said, “you just have to learn to grow one thing, and your neighbor another, and the next neighbor another. Eventually [after sharing], you have a full basket.” 

​She pointed at a small elevated garden, roughly the size of the bed of a pickup truck. “I paid $1.08 for a garden like that at my house, and we harvested 25 pounds of food from it.”  Maria aims to teach others how to do just that.  

Monica Salazar, a member of the Del Rio Parks Foundation Board of Directors – an organization separate from the City of Del Rio – said that the current land occupied by the Community Garden is considered FEMA land – land that cannot be built on because it falls within the flood plain of San Felipe Creek, which was flooded in 1998 by Tropical Storm Charley and caused widespread damage to south Del Rio.  The Parks Foundation worked with the City of Del Rio to use the land – and the result is the Community Garden.

“We also have weekly events,” she said, “like our Monday morning mom’s and toddlers social.”  Although specifically aimed at mothers and small children, she added anyone was welcome.  Maria explained how important it is for children to be exposed to healthy food choices, “I’ve seen little kids literally fighting over who was going to take the freshly harvested beets home.” 

Numerous studies across the nation have discovered that children who grow their own garden are more willing to eat – and develop better taste for – vegetables.  “They even ate the pods on the peas...and the broccoli flowers, after all the crowns were gone!” Maria remarked, feeling accomplished in her work.

Maria’s unique gardening skills – which she teaches free of charge at the Community Garden – have produced the current crop nearly entirely from food scraps – not pre-packaged seeds.  “We always save the best plant of the crop,” she said, and went on to explain how she harvests it for the seeds and plants it again as a whole new crop. 

​The garden also accepts donations of old vegetables and fruits from local vendors and stores – produce that is too old to sell – and Maria, along with a team of volunteers on Thursdays, uses those to sow new plants.  The best part – it’s free.  ​

Maria pointed at a small bell pepper plant rooted inside a makeshift cinder-block planter.  “Americans waste 40% of our food, simply in production,” she said remorsefully, “everyone wants the perfect-looking vegetable.”

She went on to explain that not all vegetables are shaped perfectly, and many have blemishes (describing the bell pepper) that really make no difference in taste or quality, but are wasted because of eye-appeal.  “The reality is that not everything in nature is perfect, but imperfect is perfect,” she asserted, following up with a discussion about how store-bought vegetables, while attractive in appearance, have little taste because of the way that they were grown and produced in bulk, inorganically.  “That’s going to be a perfect little pepper.”

Personally speaking, the Del Rio Community Garden has been a huge blessing for my wife and young daughter.  They’re down at the garden at least once a week, if not more often – it’s extremely relaxing, and it’s always fun to watch seeds sprout into food-producing plants – completely organically. Both Monica and Maria encourage the community of Del Rio to become involved in the Parks Foundation and the Community Garden.  “If people need help starting a garden, I want to help.  That’s why we’re here,” said Maria.  

​Any level-headed family that has ever relocated to a new town understands that location is only one aspect of what makes or breaks a community, so I learned quickly that, despite (perhaps) the solitude of Del Rio, the community thrived on its culture, not it’s point on the map.  Big cities have never been my thing, but I can appreciate proximity to a big town for the sake of copious amounts of entertainment, shopping, transportation, and medical needs. Smaller towns, however, can often have a much more vibrant “homey” feeling – where neighborly relationships across the community do matter.  

Misconception: Gringos Don’t Fit
My wife and I are Gringos.  We have a baby gringo chiquita (little girl).  The Del Rio community has welcomed us with no thought to race or skin color.  Honestly, despite the demographics, I really don’t think we even really stand out.  There’s a bunch of us non-Hispanics that call Del Rio home. 
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There is plenty of “American” restaurants, stores, and amenities – in fact, when I first arrived in Del Rio, I remarked that “I would have never guessed this to be a border town by the looks of it.  Definitely a Texas town, though!”

Misconception: Don’t Drink The Water
The water is great.  Call us gross, but we have no problem drinking the tap water in Del Rio.  While Acuña across the border gets its drinking water from Amistad Reservoir, Del Rio is home of San Felipe Springs – and there is so much clean water that they had to build a golf course, park and amphitheater around it.  
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Misconception: There is Nothing To Do
There’s plenty to do.  Nightlife – not so much, at least during the week.  If you like parties and wildness, you probably won’t find it in Del Rio – of course, I’m perfectly ok with that.  On the other hand, Del Rio offers plenty of attractions, from great parks and recreation, to theater productions, to intramural sports teams, to the Del Rio High School Rams football games. There’s plenty of boating and water sports, plentiful hunting and fishing, wine tasting at Val Verde Winery, and all sorts of cultural and community events, often advertised by the one of the two Chambers of Commerce in town. 
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I think the big thing is that you have to make an effort to be engaged in the town’s events – they don’t always just smack you in the face. The best way is to follow the various Facebook pages, like the Chamber of Commerce, the Parks Foundation, Del Rio Buzz, and so forth to hear about events.  Even better, get involved with local organizations and be a part of organizing local happenings – my wife and I have really enjoyed playing a part in this community this way.