Cars snake toward the District, baking in the already-intense heat of the Friday morning rush.

Meanwhile, Shelley Oñate works in the garden.

Her 6-year-old son bends under corn stalks, searching for ripe cucumbers. Oñate pulls up weeds and chats with another gardener. “It’s very peaceful,” she says.

Oñate’s garden plot is part of an organic community garden at Ticonderoga Farms in Chantilly. The 1,000-acre family farm donated the garden plots and provides water, compost and mulch to gardeners free of charge.

Gardeners young and old tend tomatoes, sunflowers and squash, corn and carrots, legumes and lettuce. They give excess produce from their own plots to the Loudoun Interfaith Relief Food Bank, and a number of gardeners work to tend a special food bank plot.

Though last year only a handful of gardeners participated, this year all 110 plots are occupied – with a waiting list.

Both Oñate and garden coordinator Lisa Wagner loved to grow things, but there was little opportunity to do so in their urban neighborhoods.

“Initially I thought, a garden, in this area? Are you crazy?”  Oñate said.

Times-Mirror Staff Photo/Beverly Denny Shelley Oñate carries bags of vegetables grown in the organic community garden plot of Ticonderoga Farm to donate to Loudoun Interfaith Relief June 29. Oñate also involves her 6-year-old son Erik in the gardening, harvesting and delivery to the food bank to teach him about giving back and helping others.

Wagner said most homeowners associations don’t allow gardens in the front yard, and families often want to have as much space as possible in their small backyards for kids to play. Others who come to the community garden live in apartments, townhouses and condominiums, where there’s no available gardening space.

“It’s really important for kids to be educated about where food comes from,” Wagner said.

Ticonderoga Farms is the one of the last family-owned and operated working farms in the eastern Loudoun area.

Donna Taylor, director of operations at Ticonderoga Farm, said the community garden is essential to keeping the farm alive. “We really are trying to reach out to the community and capture local attention,” she said.

Learning to give back

Oñate hopes that having her son Erik help in the garden and deliver vegetables to the food bank will teach him to give back. As Erik plays on the scale used to weigh donations, a brown-eyed boy about the same age walks in the front door to receive food with his family.

Times-Mirror Staff Photo/Beverly Denny Jose Flores of Sterling accepts bags of food from volunteer Nina Thurn to feed a family of four at Loudoun Interfaith Relief June 29, including some vegetables grown in the organic community garden plot of Ticonderoga Farm harvested and delivered that morning by volunteer Shelley Oñate. Flores lost his job last year and comes to the food bank every few months to make ends meet.

“On the way over here I was asking [Erik], ‘Have you ever gone to bed hungry? Well, a lot of kids do,’” Oñate said.

Donations to the food bank decrease over the summer months, said Loudoun Interfaith Director of Operations David Dwyer. At the same time, kids are no longer receiving meals at school, which means the food bank increases giving by 30 percent.

While many food banks give what they have to make ends meet, Dwyer says his organization tries to provide the best nutrition possible. He picks up a can of green beans and displays the label.

“There’s very little nutritional value in these vegetables when they’re canned,” he says. “Our goal is fresh, fresh, fresh.”

While he was worried about making ends meet last summer, he says pounds of fresh produce from community gardens and farmers’ markets across the county is having an incredible impact.

“It’s about community taking care of community,” Dwyer said. “With the economy, so many people who used to donate in the back are now coming in the front [to receive donations].”

Times-Mirror Staff Photo/Beverly Denny Organic squash and zucchini grown in the community garden plot of Ticonderoga Farm sit beside donated boxes of cereal in the warehouse of Loudoun Interfaith Relief after volunteer gardener Shelly Oñate harvested and delivered the fresh vegetables June 29. They were distributed to families in need the same day.

Building a community

The garden has drawn a variety of people from South Riding, Dulles, Chantilly and the surrounding area. Sometimes they’re neighbors; other times, they never would have met. Now, their kids play together, and the gardeners host a family picnic during seed planting time. A potluck with dishes made from the fresh produce is planned for August.

Wagner said the urban growth in eastern Loudoun does not necessarily have to lead to the loss of community; in fact, the community is thriving.

“Everybody says ‘hi,’ we share watering duties,” she said. “The driving force is families ... Where I live, people are always outside with their kids, and there’s a real sense of community. The garden is an extension of that.”

Oñate is a teacher, and every year she takes her students through Paul Fleischman’s novel “Seedfolks.” The book describes a community garden that draws struggling people from diverse backgrounds together in hope.

“One of the main lessons I’ve learned is not making assumptions about people,” Oñate said. “We have a tendency to stick with our routines, our own traditions and cultures.”

Yet when you’re working side-by-side in the garden, she said, you realize how much you have in common: “What seems fragmented suddenly becomes a small world.”

How you can help:

If you want to enjoy a part of Ticonderoga’s bountiful summer harvest, their Farm Market stocks everything from fresh honey to free range eggs to pick-your-own organic vegetables. If you’d like to spend a morning or two enjoying the outdoors, garden coordinator Lisa Wagner said she’s hoping for more community volunteers to help with weeding, watering and garden maintenance.

For more information on how to get involved in the community garden, contact Wagner by visiting meetup.com/Ticonderoga-Community-Garden and clicking “Contact Us.”