Omaha Home for Boys Returns to Gardening Roots

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Thriving tomato plants surround Cody in the community Inspiration Garden at the Omaha Home for Boys in Omaha, Nebraska. courtesy Omaha Home for Boys

A unified cheer rang out on the green slopes of Inspiration Hill. It was the groundbreaking ceremony for the new community garden, aptly named Inspiration Garden, at the Omaha Home for Boys (OHB), in Omaha, Nebraska.  

Seventy years earlier, Inspiration Hill had been part of the Solomon farm, a lush, 59-acre terrain sold to the Omaha Home for Boys, a nonprofit organization that serves the needs of wayward and orphaned boys. OHB was founded in 1920 by area leaders who wished to meet the growing need for a residential boys’ home in Omaha. The organization quickly outgrew two previous suburban addresses before settling at the farm – what eventually became known as Inspiration Hill. Handsome brick cottages were built to accommodate more boys, and, over time, a recreational facility, cafeteria and education center were erected on the property to fully serve the youth. In addition to being a nurturing home, OHB teaches the boys life lessons through experiential learning.  

The idea to plant a community garden took root in January 2010, soon after Scott Hazelrigg of Omaha became president of the organization. A staff member suggested that a community garden would bring beneficial results to the home. Hazelrigg loved the idea, and plans for the garden were set in motion. In anticipation of spring, boys and staff members began tending to an herb and vegetable nursery housed at the learning center. 

In April, soil was broken and tilled. Herbs, vegetables and flowers were planted, and, by July, Inspiration Garden was exploding with produce. Tomatoes shone like rubies in the summer sunshine, squash and zucchini sprouted heartily from their vines, and corn, onions, cucumbers and melons were proudly harvested by house parents and their boys.  

With the arrival of Inspiration Garden came echoes of the past. In the earlier days of OHB, farming and gardening were second nature to many of the boys. In Elkhorn, Nebraska, a farming community west of Omaha, boys were given the opportunity to plant and harvest vegetables and even help with raising farm animals. Back at their residential campus, boys enjoyed tending to and harvesting apple and cherry trees. In many ways, Inspiration Garden will lead OHB back to its roots.