From a vacant lot in Dallas in 2009 to a 14-acre farm in Mineola today.
The Gardens We've Grown: 15 Years of Turning Empty Lots into Living Classrooms
Promise of Peace started with one woman, one empty lot, and one idea: that a garden could feed a neighborhood and bring it together. Since then, we have built and sustained more than a dozen gardens, reached over 5,000 families, and grown a model that now feeds families across East Texas. This is where we have grown.
Since 2009
Growing food and community
12+ Gardens
Built and sustained across Dallas
5,000+ Families
Fed, taught, and connected
1,500+ Volunteers
At a single garden alone
It Started on a Vacant Lot
The first Promise of Peace garden was at 7446 East Grand Avenue in Dallas. In the summer of 2009, Elizabeth Dry stood in front of an empty lot and saw something else entirely. A place where neighbors could gather and grow fresh food. A place where people got to know each other for who they really are. A place where dreams, and dinner, could grow.
She planted it. People came. And that first garden became Promise of Peace, the start of everything that followed.
Where We've Grown
La Bajada POP Farm
Our flagship and our model. At Trinity Groves in Dallas, youth interns and community members grew seasonal ingredients for our Soup It Forward kits every month. It offered volunteer days, classes on growing food in small spaces, and garden tours. Everything we have learned, we learned here first.
Imagine Garden
Built on top of a parking lot at White Rock United Church in East Dallas, with more than 200 volunteers over three months. For three years it served over 250 community members and 500 children with cooking classes, garden art, and farm-to-table dinners, powered by more than 1,500 volunteers.
Bayles Elementary Garden
Established in spring 2016, this garden reached over 500 families with fresh produce and Seed-to-Soul cooking classes. Students learned math, science, literacy, and health right in the soil, with support from State Farm and SMU Mustang Heroes volunteers.
"I had no idea where a carrot came from or how sweet they could taste. Now, my family grows our own."
— Bayles Elementary student
Vogel Alcove
A garden for a center serving children experiencing homelessness in Dallas. We grew fresh produce for their plates and turned the youngest gardeners into lifelong lovers of clean, fresh food.
"Now at meal times, the children all savor the flavor and say 'Oooh la la,' like they learned to do from Miss Elizabeth." — Vogel Alcove teacher
Emmanuel Garden
A food pantry garden launched at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in spring 2016, built and kept alive by volunteers and neighbors. It grew enough to feed hundreds of people living in a food desert. Some of the people we served slept on cardboard in that garden, and every one of them understood what it meant: food, dignity, and a reason to gather.
The Belmont
A backyard veggie garden at the historic Belmont Hotel, grown to supply fresh produce for its restaurant alongside Chef Josh Harmon and owner Jordan Ford. A farm table beside the garden honors Kathleen Stewart, set aside for shared dinners and teaching.
The MAC Artist Dye Garden
A different kind of harvest. In 2017 we installed six raised beds so local artists could grow their own plants for natural dyes. Proof that a garden can feed more than a kitchen.
Want to Grow One of Your Own?
We do not keep what we have learned to ourselves. Through Garden Aide, Promise of Peace offers seasonal consultation for new and growing gardens. We help you find resources, build strategies to bring your community in, and add the educational components that turn a patch of dirt into a classroom. If you have a space and a vision, we can help you grow it.
The Promise Put Down Roots in East Texas
Today, everything we learned in Dallas lives on a 14-acre farm in Mineola. Sunshine Acres feeds over 300 students a week, sends Soup It Forward kits to families across Wood County, and gives a new generation of kids the same thing that first vacant lot gave a Dallas neighborhood in 2009: a place to grow.
Garden Questions
Where has Promise of Peace built gardens?
Promise of Peace built and sustained more than a dozen gardens across Dallas neighborhoods, including Trinity Groves, East Dallas, and several schools and churches. Today our active farm is Sunshine Acres, a 14-acre farm in Mineola, Texas.
What is Garden Aide?
Garden Aide is our seasonal consultation service for new and growing gardens. We help you locate resources, build community engagement strategies, and add the educational components that make a garden a place of learning. Call Elizabeth at 214-240-9220 or use the form on this page to start.
Can you help me start a community garden?
Yes. Whether you have a school, a church, a neighborhood lot, or an apartment courtyard, we can help you plan and grow it through Garden Aide. Reach out and we will talk through your space and your goals.
Who builds and maintains the gardens?
Youth interns, volunteers, and community members, working side by side. Many of our gardens were built by hundreds of volunteers and kept alive by the neighbors they feed.
Do you still run the Dallas gardens?
The Dallas gardens are the foundation of everything we do, and La Bajada at Trinity Groves remains our model. Our primary farm today is Sunshine Acres in Mineola. To ask about a specific garden, call Elizabeth at 214-240-9220.
How can I support this work?
Donate to keep our gardens and programs growing, volunteer alongside our students, or partner with us to start a garden of your own. Tap any Donate Now button or call 214-240-9220.
Grow With Us
Want to start a garden, volunteer, partner, or support our work? Send us a note and Elizabeth will be in touch. Prefer to talk? Call 214-240-9220.
Since 2009 - 12+ Gardens Built - 5,000+ Families Served - Rooted in East Texas
Every Garden Started as an Empty Lot
One vision in 2009 became a dozen gardens, thousands of families, and a farm that still grows today. Help us plant the next one.
Questions? Call Elizabeth at 214-240-9220.
Promise of Peace Gardens
Elizabeth Dry | 214-240-9220
Sunshine Acres Community Farm, Mineola, Texas
© 2026 Promise of Peace Gardens. All rights reserved.
