(smooth uptempo music) - So here, I have mung bean microgreens.

The reason I grow these is because microgreens are packed with a lot of nutrition, and they also grow very fast.

So if you're in a rush or you just need a quick boost, or a quick boost in flavor, you can use microgreens.

- Over a year ago now, we started out as a farmers' market to where our object and goal was to bring fresh produce to North Killeen to address a food desert that they experienced in that area.

We wanted to also be able to have our own produce at the market.

Lenny West, actually, you know, he coined the idea.

He was like, "Hey, we could grow microgreens."

And so we started out with microgreens, and then it kind of built from there.

- Hey, I'm Lenny West.

We're currently at Make A Way Wellness In-The-City Farm and Gardens.

The vision for this property is to mostly have Texas natives, as well as a lot of fruit trees and berry bushes.

The reason that we want to do this is because we want to encompass a inviting place, so that eventually we want to have a farm-to-table experience so that people are able to come and potentially pick berries or pick peaches, and then we're able to make maybe a peach cobbler out here just so we're able to show that it's possible.

That you don't necessarily have to go to a big-box store to enjoy the freshness of a delicious food.

- My name is Deonta Davis.

I am the founder and executive director of Make A Way Wellness.

And our mission at Make A Way Wellness is to aid in community development through efforts in neighborhood stabilization, community reinvestment, and programs and initiatives for the benefit of low-income and socially disadvantaged populations.

- The way that I connected with Deonta was at a suicide prevention event.

I was coming because another friend of mine that I had met through gardening.

And through that, he told me that he had his own nonprofit going on, and we just connected because I wanted to start growing microgreens, he wanted to start a farmers market, and from that, my gardening knowledge and his business knowledge, we were able to combine and make something great out of it.

- Our family owns this land right here behind me, as you can see, and it was just basically a vacant lot.

When we first came out here, we actually had a big homeless camp right there in the middle.

You know, they had their tents and overhanging and, you know, we were just like, "Well, we can use this land, repurpose it, and actually give it a really good cause for our communities."

Me and my wife are actually getting that nursery going at home, because we currently don't have, like, a water line.

We found out that the city water line that existed only is for those properties back there that have homes.

So we will have to get another pipeline in here, and then we'd have access to fresh water.

- So when I was younger, I had certain issues whenever it came to school or my mental health, or just certain areas that I wasn't able to express myself in.

All I had was basketball.

But you can't necessarily wake up at 12:00 at night and play basketball, but you can wake up at 12:00 at night and plant a seed.

So from that, I was just able to see myself doing this for the rest of my life.

So I started volunteering at one community garden, and then another community garden, and then another community garden.

My at-home gardening experience started at an apartment.

A lot of people say you can't garden at home if you're in an apartment, but I was able to start with containers.

And from there, I grew and I grew and I grew to the point where I had so many containers, the apartment was like, "Hey, you're growing too much."

So from that, I moved to where I'm living now, and I still container-garden because it's cost-efficient.

Anybody can do it.

You don't have to have a ton of money, and you don't have to have a ton of space.

A lot of the containers that I got, I got donated from nurserys.

And also, if the weather gets bad, you can move it into the shade, you can move it inside or outside, and you're able to make your own mix the way that you want to make it.

- Actually, the inspiration and motivation to start this was I really wanted to get involved in the community.

I wanted to help those who had experienced incarceration, and coming back out into community, having somewhere to go, somewhere to be, and somewhere to belong.

And so I was like, "Well, you know, I don't want to just give a hand out, but I want to give a hand up."

And I was like, "But I don't want individuals to feel like they're not empowered in the process."

So I was like, "Well, it's going to be on you to make the change.

It's going to be on you to make a way for yourself, to succeed, to grow, to be better."

And so that's kind of like where that name actually came from.

I was just like, "We want to be a champion of others finding their purpose."

So that's how we got Make A Way Wellness.

- When I turned to gardening, my mental issues improved, and through that, I was like, "Hey, if it can do it for me, maybe it can do it for someone else."

So me, I'm the type of person that if I feel happiness, or I see something that can bring me happiness, I want to share it with other people.

So I just felt like being involved in the community, trying to teach kids, trying to teach older people, trying to teach all ages, trying to also enrich my knowledge.

- We want to grow produce, and want to make sure that we can provide food and fresh vegetables to our communities in need.

You can get involved by reaching out to us through our website, MakeAWayWellness.org.

- My goal, mostly, is to be able to bring it to the youth, because if you're able to start young and have good coping skills, you're able to connect, like I said, the mind, the body, and the soul at a young age, then you are able to equip yourself to live a good, healthy life.

There's a quote that I've seen, it said that, "Being a gardener is planting a tree, and knowing that you'll never see it reach its full potential."

So that's just how I see kids, like, you just plant that seed in them and hope they water it, and just know that you were there to be a part of that ride.

(smooth uptempo music continues)