Over the last month, historian Marvin Dunn could be found toiling in a garden. Checking the soil. Planting the produce. Watering the flowers.
And now he’s ready to give away the fruits of his labor.
The “Teach the Truth” garden will officially open noon on Feb. 3 in Overtown as part of Dunn’s continued efforts to educate Floridians. Saturday’s opening will also be accompanied by a banned book giveaway where locals can get free literature that state legislatures have deemed “harmful.”
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“This garden has two goals,” the Florida International University professor emeritus said in a statement. “The first is to give away books that have been recently banned in Florida schools, and the second is to grow healthy produce to be given away to neighborhood residents.”
The idea for the garden came when Dunn noticed the amount of vacant lots in Overtown.
“Why allow vacant lots in Overtown to sit vacant?” Dunn told the Miami Herald. “Why not put them to useful purpose for the community?”