The next time you have a cocktail in Atlanta, it is quite possible that the bartender not only made your drink, but also grew the ingredients for it. In their very own garden.
While others have been busy baking sourdough and banana bread, the hospitality community in Atlanta has had its fingers deep in the good earth. And what better time? If our time with this global pandemic has taught us anything as we roll through the ravages it visits upon us, it is that the human spirit is resilient. And that creativity, imagination, hope, and simplicity turns out to be the solution to what appears to be insurmountable problems.
This return to a simpler time, when we relied upon our own green thumbs to provide nourishment and peace, is at the heart of Keyatta Mincey-Parker’s urban garden in East Atlanta. Her urban oasis known as A Sip of Paradise Garden is a haven for Atlanta’s bartenders and chefs who tend to their plots, growing fruit, tomatoes, corn, fennel, cabbage, lavender, thyme, basil, mint, lemon balm and more for cocktail development, and simply feeding their own families and neighbors.
Born out of a larger project as part of a cocktail competition that she ultimately did not win, Mincey-Parker has turned her dream of a business plan into reality.
This spot had laid dormant for five years, and thanks to a relationship she had with the Community Farmers Market, she was bequeathed the land in perpetuity.
After creating a board of directors, business plan and a budget she got down to it, splitting the plot into 46 individual plots that can be rented for the growing season of May to December. Most are 4’ x6’ feet, and seven of them are communal; the rest belong to individuals who pay a nominal fee and tend to their own plots, growing whatever they desire.
At a time where bartenders and chefs in Atlanta, and around the country, are at the whim of a virus and local governments a spot like this becomes even more necessary. Says Mincey-Parker, “What’s really helped me through all of this is that I don’t have to clock in, in the garden I don’t have to move any faster than I want to do; I move as I want and leave as I want. Really, it is everyone’s haven. Especially at a time where there is so much noise going around. It is the one place where you can be safe.”
“It’s a place for bartenders to retreat,” Mincey-Parker continues. “We need that. People unload on us a lot whether you are working in dive bars where you are churning and burning, or at clubs, in fine dining or at cocktail bars. This space is for us and it has turned into this thing with so many people interested, including chefs who want to do classes. So many people who want to share their vision.”
That vision has created an even tighter sense of community for the gardeners who spend their time tilling their plot in this old-fashioned neighborhood. On Mondays ten plot owners gather twice monthly, not just to garden, but to meditate. This half-hour session, led by Tasha Cyril, a managing partner of a restaurant group in Atlanta, offers a socially distanced way for the gardeners to reflect and create a peaceful space for their minds at A Sip of Paradise Garden.
This new Monday Meditations program goes hand in hand with Mincey-Parker’s desire to build this earthbound getaway for her colleagues. She concludes, “I wanted a space my friends could grow what they want. I wanted people to invest something. I wanted them to invest something in having a piece of land. When you get your fingers in dirt it raises your endorphin levels. Gardening is hard. And when you see what you have planted grow it is insane. It feels really good.”
Tips/insights for starting your own garden:
- Actually take the time to plan it all out, what you want to grow, when you can grow and how to grow.
- No one can do this alone, from window garden to backyard garden to community garden, ask for help, it can be overwhelming.
- Enjoy it for what it is
- The most important…things have to die in order for things to live. Do not be discouraged if you do not have a full harvest. It is ok.
Mrs. Mincey-Parker is available for consultations if you are interested in creating an urban garden like A Sip of Paradise Garden of your own and can be reached at picturesandcocktails@gmail.com
