AUSTIN, Texas — Liz Cardinal is a contractor with the Sustainable Food Center. She manages a teaching garden in East Austin at MLK Station Park, just off the Boggy Creek Trail. It recently received a $12,020 grant from the Austin Parks Foundation (APF).

Cardinal plans to put the grant toward improving infrastructure. 

“There’s just an overall need for things to be maintained, or broken things to be fixed, and just freshen up the place so it’s an inviting space for people to use,” said Kathleen Barron, APF's Senior Programs Manager.

The money comes from the ACL Music Festival Grants Program.

"Every year, from ticket sales [and] alcohol sales, we're able to receive funds at the beginning of the year and then we allocate it in several different ways," Barron said.

This cycle, $76,520 was divided between three different projects, one of them being the Sustainable Food Center. There, the planter beds are in disrepair, and the signage is so sunburnt it’s almost unreadable. 

Cardinal has harvested most of the vegetables now, and she isn’t going to replant the beds until March.

“Because we have these projects now, these beds all have to get rebuilt, and so I want them to be empty,” she said.

On the day I visited, there were two volunteers helping Cardinal. Some of the harvest was given to them, a little bit to me, and the rest to a nearby ATX Free Fridge — located outside of Nixta Taqueria on E. 12th Street.

“The great thing about this garden is that it produces a lot of food, and I’m more than happy to share it with people,” Cardinal said. 

But finding people to share it with is actually a challenge. Cardinal would like to work with a group who can work in the garden, learn about growing food and also benefit from taking the food with them.

At a time when food insecurity is such a big issue, Cardinal is having trouble getting rid of her fresh vegetables.

When Cardinal dropped off produce at the Free Fridge, no one was waiting there or standing nearby so who knows if it was taken, or if it just expired. Various bread products from Trader Joe's were also there.

“The free fridge is really just the most convenient option right now for where I can take all the produce,” she said. “I think it would be a way better program if the volunteers or the people in the garden growing the food were also able to utilize the food.”

Cardinal enjoys growing vegetables because she feels like it connects her to the Earth. But interacting with volunteers is also a plus.

“I get to work once a week with volunteers and neighbors, and I go away leaving really optimistic and I have enjoyed meeting people. I’ve actually made some really good friends that have started as volunteers here,” she said. “It’s just a really neat way to help a garden, help the community, but you’re also getting this connection with other people that maybe you don’t know you necessarily want or need.”

After the holidays, Cardinal says she's going to gather a group of volunteers who can help rebuild the planter beds. After that, she'll need help maintaining them.

The garden now has more than $12,000 to improve. It just needs more people to help out and take the food with them.

Follow Charlotte Scott on Twitter.