Urban Gardens
Everything that these gardeners pick is all local and nothing is shipped from different places like some markets. It is run by three siblings and their spouses; they do all of the hard work. Customers pay by the honor system. Basically, they are putting their trust into the customer to pay whatever it is that they can. If you can’t pay for it, Teka and the others let you pay when you can.
Many people have come back and left an envelope and paid them back.
Nic Weibl, part owner in Urban Gardens, said ”If we can ask you, as a neighbor and friend, to trust we have grown great veggies worth paying for – we certainly should trust you to pay what you can when you can.”
To be able to trust in their community like that is pretty brave and satisfying. Not only is it a family business, but people have gotten jobs with the people who own Urban Gardens. They have someone in the gardens every day. If you love the nature and plants as much as these people, you can volunteer to help out in the gardens.
Even though it is family oriented, it’s both a hobby and a job. It’s a job because of all the hard work, but it’s a hobby because they love what they’re doing.
Weibl said,” We eat the veggies too. We enjoy meeting new people, having conversations about veggies, how folks prepare them, how they savor the flesh flavor. We have celery right now that has an incredible – hard to believe that we actually have conversations about the celery but we do.”
If you enjoy great vegetables and want to meet new people, Urban Garden’s is the place to go. To meet people who care less about the money and would rather you be honest to them, is so much more important. These people thrive on their customer’s happiness, not on money. If you like everything that they are about then go to Urban Garden’s at 3009 S. Prospect, Champaign, IL.
About The Author
Thanks for a great article Kimberly. Ric