Helping Revitalize a South Bronx Urban Farm

For almost a decade, the Viking Global Foundation and New York Restoration Project have partnered on ambitious greening initiatives designed for lasting community impact. This year’s collaboration was no exception, with over 200 “Vikings” joining NYRP in the South Bronx to revitalize La Finca del Sur’s sprawling urban farm.

Meaning “Farm of the South,” La Finca del Sur occupies a triangle of land just south of the Grand Concourse and at the intersection of the Major Deegan, Metro-North rail lines, and 138th Street. Established in 2009 by five women of color, the farm’s mission is to contribute to the health, economic empowerment, and nutritional awareness of the surrounding community while advocating for food justice.

La Finca gardener Ana Moran reached out to NYRP in the fall of 2023 seeking assistance through our Gardens for the City (GFTC) program, noting that the recent influx of development in the South Bronx—a New York State-recognized Environmental Justice area—is bringing more residents and heightening the need for quality green space.

NYRP’s GFTC program works with community partners in some of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods to build or renovate gardens and other functional green spaces. NYRP provides the skill, time, materials, labor, and a year of horticultural and agricultural consultation for these projects at no cost to the partner.

With a focus on inclusivity, La Finca specifically requested assistance from NYRP to help create accessible pathways and raised beds. The group also expressed a desire for garden features that will encourage and support greater community gathering and building opportunities, such as shade structures and garden furniture.

When Jason Sheets, NYRP’s Director of Community Garden Operations and Citywide Greening Projects, saw the size and scope of the potential La Finca project, he immediately thought of NYRP’s longtime partner, the Viking Global Foundation.

 

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Together with Viking, NYRP has completed some of the largest garden renovations in the organization’s history, including an urban farm serving refugees in the South Bronx, a half-acre community center garden in East Harlem, and the city’s largest community garden.

With the support of the Viking Global Foundation and the help of a stellar crew of over 200 Viking volunteers, NYRP’s staff broke ground at La Finca in September 2025.

The team began by removing five dump-truck loads of garbage and four cubic yards of herbaceous material from the space. To prepare the ground, they spread 2,000 square feet of landscape fabric and 1,500 square feet of hardware cloth. The crew also established durable pathways and ground cover with twenty-five yards of crushed stone dust, six cubic yards of mulch, and five cubic yards of wood chips.

Next, the team assembled 72 raised beds: the most raised beds of any NYRP garden renovation to date. They also attached five arch trellises and filled the new garden beds with 75 cubic yards of soil. Additional structural improvements included building a 16-by-12-foot shade structure; assembling six picnic tables and nine benches; and resurfacing a small greenhouse. Finally, adding to the garden’s revival, the team planted 125 perennials and shrubs.

Thanks to a generous introduction by Viking, NYRP and La Finca were also happy to consult with Playful Learning Landscapes (PLL): a nonprofit dedicated to transforming everyday public spaces into hubs for playful learning. PLL collaborates with communities to co-design culturally relevant installations to support children’s cognitive and social development.

During the initial garden design process, PLL Executive Director Sarah Lytle, Ph.D. consulted with La Finca gardeners and the NYRP team to help identify potential ways to enhance the farm to support early childhood education. La Finca focused on their new shade structure, partnering with NYRP to install a chalkboard as well as colorful, eye-catching polka dots to its roof. The team also installed a path of concrete pavers imprinted with insects as a welcoming entry to the shade structure learning area. Lastly, NYRP added a wraparound bench under an adjacent plum tree in the “Children’s Garden” section of the farm. Each of these installations were designed to engage children in playful moments that support their development.

“Viking’s partnership for a site like La Finca is invaluable,” says Sheets. “Their enthusiasm and volunteer power are essential to the success of La Finca’s renovation. For a site this big, they bring extra hands, determination, and willingness to do work that would otherwise take much longer without them.”

“We must commend Viking,” adds La Finca Project Facilitator and Co-founder Demetrio Surun. “Volunteers arrived with a strong desire to work, and they performed with high-level efficiency, creating and building the beds like clockwork. It was truly inspiring to witness such a highly effective volunteer effort.”

The gardeners are thrilled about how the renovation has already begun to attract new prospective members and are planning a robust agenda for the next growing season. NYRP’s Urban Agriculture team will also assist La Finca gardeners by consulting once a month over the next year while providing seeds, plants, supplies, skill shares, and technical consultations.

“NYRP’s infrastructure improvements have significantly reduced the stress of perpetual repairs and funding for basic maintenance,” reflects La Finca farmer and Co-founder Nancy Ortiz-Surun. “This stability creates more opportunities for community-building and partnerships, demonstrating a positive ‘law of attraction’ effect from the renovation.”

“We plan to expand our programming beyond regular cooking workshops,” adds Demetrio. “The new children’s garden area will allow for more family-oriented activities and performances, which is key to growing our community. La Finca will continue to be a community anchor where people can grow food, learn, and simply relax; it’s a much-needed respite from city life.”