The community gardening project that first began at Dunn’s Overtown Farm is expanding to a new location in Overtown. Chef Chrys Salmon, founder of the nonprofit Sistrunk Seeds, is growing the organization to include a two-acre lot on Northwest First Court. The new urban farm, known as the People’s Garden, is dedicated to serving as a community resource hub focused on food access, mutual aid, wellness programming and more.
“Our whole idea was to create a space where more people could come,” said Salmon. “We got a lot of traction [at our last location]. A lot of people were excited about us being in that space, and sometimes you want to move to a different shell, just like a snail, and you need more room to grow.”
Sistrunk Seeds is entering this new chapter as the lease at its prior location, Dunn’s Overtown Farm, nears the end of its term. The new two-acre plot will include various types of farming, from composting, permaculture and indigenous ways to cultivate and steward the land.
The goal of the People’s Garden is to build a space that will nourish the community through food, education and wellness.
(Elisabeth Campbell for The Miami Times)
“We’re not just going to focus on growing vegetables or cooking vegetables,” said Salmon. “We’re taking a more land-based approach to teaching people how to be healthy: still teaching them how to cook and how to grow food but also teaching them of the importance of land ownership, claiming space and holding space — making a plan when you see that gentrification is moving in.”
But growth as an urban farm in a predominantly Black area of town hasn’t been easy. Sistrunk Seeds is currently experiencing a “funding limbo” in the wake of USDN v. USDA, a lawsuit urging the restoration of grant agreements under the USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access (LCM) Program.
“The whole program was frozen, and now there’s a lawsuit going on in the courts to see whether or not the judge that made the decision had the right to take the grant money back and end the program,” said Salmon.
The People’s Garden will include the People’s Pantry, a food pantry run in partnership with Buddy System MIA.
(Elisabeth Campbell for The Miami Times)
The LCM program — of which Sistrunk Seeds was a grantee — was terminated last year following a Trump administration crackdown on projects associated with DEI or climate change. Over 50 organizations were impacted by the change, though 24 of those later had $127 million in grants restored through a preliminary injunction issued June 30, 2026, in USDN v. USDA. Sistrunk Seeds was not one of the organizations whose funding was restored, and it now awaits a final ruling in the federal lawsuit.
Despite the challenges, Sistrunk Seeds is moving forward with its expansion. With the backing of other community organizations such as Buddy System MIA and Black Men Build Miami, Sistrunk Seeds hopes to continue to invest in the health and wellbeing of Overtown residents.
The People’s Garden is located at 1212 NW 1st Ct. in Overtown.
(Elisabeth Campbell for The Miami Times)
Valentina Sabalza, co-founder of Buddy System MIA, is partnering with Chef Salmon to open the People’s Pantry, a food pantry at the People’s Garden. Buddy System will operate this barrier-free food resource for anybody in Miami-Dade County — no application required.
“We will be getting food directly from the garden straight into the pantry, so people are getting the freshest, most nutritious produce as quickly as it’s pulled from the ground,” said Sabalza.
Sistrunk Seeds is also partnering with Black Men Build to provide somatic work and self-defense training for the community. Ashley Toussaint of Black Men Build Miami emphasized the importance of engaging the community, including by hosting movie nights, restorative events and chess nights for their target audience.
Jessica Gutierrez-Castillo, co-founder of Buddy System MIA, helps plant a tree at the People’s Garden.
(Elisabeth Campbell for The Miami Times)
“The type of work that she [Chef Salmon] was doing in the community around urban farming, providing organic food alternatives and just educating the community at large on how to grow your own community garden was in alignment with our values,” said Toussaint. “We also provided safety and security at those events, any time that there was activity around the garden.”
Although Sistrunk Seeds is expanding, Dr. Marvin Dunn, founder of Dunn’s Overtown Farm, will continue to operate his farm with Salmon’s help.
“[Dr. Dunn] has always been a voice of reason,” said Salmon. “He’s a vanguard… He fights for the community.”
Volunteers throughout the Overtown community and beyond came to help prepare the People’s Garden for opening.
(Elisabeth Campbell for The Miami Times)
Dunn hopes to expand from the current private land on which the farm sits to the public land in Overtown. He believes that urban, inner-city areas need to convert unused and vacant land to produce food and jobs for the immediate community.
Dunn’s Overtown Farm, however, will always be a point of pride for him.
“There’s no other place in Overtown that is pretty just for the sake of being pretty,” said Dunn. “Overtown deserves a place of peace. The garden is open. I will not fence it.”
The People’s Garden is located on two acres of land in Overtown.
(Elisabeth Campbell for The Miami Times)
“Why all this? Because people deserve it,” he added. “Overtown deserves this place… But even if we were not producing food, just having a green space like this is important. It’s huge.”
Salmon said she will continue her relationship with Dunn’s Overtown Farm as she extends her nonprofit arm into a larger piece of Overtown.
“We’re really taking space and claiming this piece of Overtown, at least for the next 10 years,” said Salmon. “Even when everything else looks different, we’ll be here.”
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The People’s Pantry will include produce grown in the People’s Garden.
Community partnerships keep Sistrunk Seeds thriving in Overtown.
Giovan Barthole unloads a container on the new property.
Chef Chrys Salmon is the founder of Sistrunk Seeds.
The People’s Garden will serve the community of Overtown and beyond by providing fresh produce to marginalized areas.
The People’s Pantry will include produce grown in the People’s Garden.
Community partnerships keep Sistrunk Seeds thriving in Overtown.
Giovan Barthole unloads a container on the new property.
Chef Chrys Salmon is the founder of Sistrunk Seeds.
The People’s Garden will serve the community of Overtown and beyond by providing fresh produce to marginalized areas.