PEPPERS, cruciferous vegetables, tomatoes, corn, and watermelons abound beneath soaring cottonwoods, their rows bracketed by planters brimming with larkspur, pink and purple cosmos, and native wildflowers that draw bees and butterflies. A playground where children from the on-site daycare center play sits tucked between the small farm and a low, painted brick building, where neighbors on their way in or out pause for conversation. Across a parking lot, a stand of apple, persimmon, and pawpaw trees shade a field next to the bright blue Cleo’s Bodega, perched at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. and 24th streets. This expansive oasis makes up Flanner House, founded in 1898 to provide Indy’s newly arrived Southern Black migrants with medical care, job training, housing, and childcare. The farm was established in 2016 by current director Brandon Cosby to address Riverside’s food apartheid. The community members who maintain it use only low-barrier methods that neighbors can adopt in their own yards. The bodega—which offers cafe fare, produce from the farm, and groceries—came in 2019, followed by Ujamaa Community Bookstore in 2021. Visitors are always welcome and are especially encouraged to stop by the bodega for a bite and music on the outdoor patio or the bookstore for game nights, workshops, book clubs, and more.
