Border Garden

The Binational garden is located inside Friendship Park, a space inaugurated in 1971 when then first lady Pat Nixon planted a tree to match the trees on the Mexican side and had her secret service cut the barbed wire fence so she could greet people across the border.  The garden was planted inside the park when students from both sides of the border came together on March 7th, 2007 during a “Border encuentro” as a way to breach the gap for an environmental festival happening on the Mexican side.  The garden grew and became large binational circles in 2012 to match the circle theme around the binational monument at the park.  As the garden grew, the community grew around it and, despite restrictions to access on the US side, the garden has become a point of encounter on the Mexican side.  Food justice groups and the local municipality in “Playas de Tijuana” have gotten involved and garden beds are maintained by the community for the homeless and hungry on the Mexican side.  Access is still allowed on the US side in a controlled fashion and when volunteers are allowed in, the binational community works together through the border wall to improve the garden and create community without borders.  The base garden volunteers depend heavily on visiting groups to make needed improvements to the garden and to maintain our symbolic space of unity and collaboration.