UTRGV's first Brownsville community garden grows food, learning and connection

By Victoria Brito Morales

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS – AUG. 6, 2026 – Every few days, Jaden Suarez makes his way to a small vegetable garden outside The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's historic Cueto Building in Brownsville.

He pulls weeds, waters tomato, pepper and corn plants, and checks on their progress.

"I love to see how everything's been growing," Suarez said. "When you put in the work, you start to see growth."

Suarez, a junior criminal justice major from Brownsville and a Service Learning Ambassador, is the primary student volunteer helping Estela De La Garza, director of Community Engagement in the UTRGV Division of Governmental and Community Relations, with La Nueva Libertad Community Harvest Garden’s day-to-day upkeep.

The harvest garden lines the sidewalk around the Cueto Building, a few blocks from the UTRGV campus. It is the university's first shared growing area in Brownsville, created to promote food access, environmental stewardship and neighborhood engagement.

Its name – La Nueva Libertad Community Harvest Garden – pays tribute to the historic building where the project took root.

"What we really wanted was a place where we could meet our community where they're at," said Estela De La Garza, director of Community Engagement in the UTRGV Division of Governmental and Community Relations. "It's an extension of the university into the community."

The garden was planted during Vaqueros Volunteer Day in April 2026 through a partnership among UTRGV Community Engagement, Engaged Scholarship and Learning, Campus Facilities Operations and student volunteers.

Since then, students and staff have continued caring for the garden by watering plants, pulling weeds and harvesting fresh produce.

Suarez's interest in gardening began with his grandmother, who maintained a home garden just a few blocks from the Cueto Building while he was growing up.

"It feels good when you do something on your own and you see it prosper," he said.

Recently, Suarez and his father harvested serrano peppers and jalapeños from the vegetable beds to make homemade salsa.

"It came out really good," he said. "I didn't expect to be able to make salsa this fast with the serranos, and it makes you really happy to see that it's possible from this garden."

BUILDING A SPACE FOR THE COMMUNITY

For De La Garza, the project reflects UTRGV's commitment to community engagement while showing students that meaningful service doesn't always happen inside a classroom.

The idea grew from her own experience tending a home garden and seeing the impact community gardens have had throughout Brownsville. The courtyard outside the Cueto Building presented the perfect opportunity to bring that vision to life.

"It's really also a learning space for not only those that we're inviting as volunteers, but potential projects for students to get to know the community and get to know gardening," she said. "It shows we can also do this in our own homes. It doesn't take a lot. It takes some water and a little bit of time."

 

For fellow Service Learning Ambassador Barbara Flores, a senior biomedical sciences major from Pharr, the garden demonstrates how service and learning go hand in hand.

Students are gaining practical experience while helping address food insecurity and build relationships throughout the surrounding neighborhoods, she said.

"This is a beautiful initiative," Flores said. "Nature helps give back to us, so it's a reciprocal relationship."

Flores, who enjoys cooking, can already imagine the meals inspired by the harvest. Fresh basil could become homemade spaghetti sauce, corn could be turned into esquites, and jalapeños could add flavor to tacos or pozole.

"It's community and nourishment," she said. "It's a place where people from different backgrounds can unite over food because we all require nourishment."

Fellow Service Learning Ambassador Lizeth Solorio, a senior accounting major from Pharr, said working in the garden has also taught her skills she plans to take home.

Having never gardened before, she has learned everything from planting seeds at the proper depth to maintaining healthy plants through the Texas summer.

"I just wanted to do my part and help contribute to the community," Solorio said. "I'm really excited to see the progress of the garden as we go."

To volunteer with the La Nueva Libertad Community Harvest Garden, visit the Engagement Zone at www.utrgv.edu/csi/involvement/community-service/engagement-zone/.