matt feno

Jill Burkindine of Manhattan, Kan., and Jane Ray of Carthage, Texas, sisters, own the land where the more than one acre Hometown Garden is located at the USDA Service Center in Carthage. This is a unique garden. It’s a U.S. Department of Agriculture People’s Garden national initiative site. It also is the only privately owned initiative garden in the world.

From Sisters’ Generosity Grows a Garden to Benefit Carthage, Texas Community

Jane Ray was ironing clothes and watching the news when a story inspired her to action. The news story showed First Lady Michelle Obama speaking to employees at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., telling them about the agency’s People’s Garden initiative. Ray, who grew up in Carthage, Texas, realized she had just heard how she and her sister, Jill Burkindine of Manhattan, Kan., could honor their parents and benefit their hometown community.