Coahoma Orchards Impact Map

Coahoma Orchards is an urban orchard “direct action” dedicated to the cross cultural heritage of Native and African people. Located in the Jeff Vander Lou area, these multi-site orchards grow chokeberry, plums, black cherries with perennial herbs and flowers. We are in the Greater Ville, Jeff Vanderlou, Goodfellow- Wells, and Baden neighborhoods of North Saint Louis, Missouri.

We work to create food forests to combat the effects of climate change. Climate change impacts our life through cardiovascular and respiratory health. It also affects our access to food and nutrition. The air quality index of your area directly affects our communities and neighborhoods at a global level. Socio economic demographics effect the impact of climate change, and the lack of urban trees and forests.

Our plant selection is strongly determined by the findings in our "Beautiful, Healthy, Resilient" Cultural Research Campaign. (www.northstlresilience.today) Our food forests support the cleaning up of air pollution, supports the bee populous, grows monarchs, helps soil remediation, provides a shade canopy, grows produce, supports mental and physical health, assists the livelihood of birds, focuses on native plants, prevents crime and raises the property value of homes in our area.

A North Saint Louis Land Story

The Greater Ville and the Ville hold an unique history in the American story. Our ancestral land began its colonial interactions as African American farmland.

The description of our neighborhood from the City of Saint Louis:

The Greater Ville shares much of the history of the Ville neighborhood, which nests comfortably inside the Greater Ville. By the mid 1800s it was home to a mix of African Americans, Germans, and Irish immigrants. Unlike the Ville, parts of the Greater Ville area were restricted by covenants to preserve racial inequalities through allowing only white home ownership in certain areas. Similar to the Ville, though, the Greater Ville has suffered greatly from neglect and disinvestment as both the white and black middle class have virtually disappeared in a mass exodus out of the city. As the middle class left their homes in the Greater Ville behind, many urban poor relocated to this neighborhood after they were pushed out of areas such as Mill Creek Valley during the “urban renewal” period of the 1950s.

Charles Elleard from “4theville,” a local community group:

THE VILLE is a historic African-American neighborhood located in St. Louis, Missouri with a rich history of African-American education, business, entertainment and culture. The neighborhood is bounded by St. Louis Avenue on the North, Martin Luther King drive on the South, Sarah on the East and Taylor on the West.

The Ville originally belonged to Charles M. Elleard, a florist and horticulturist who maintained a conservatory and greenhouses on the tract of land. During Elleard’s twenty years at his property on Goode and St. Charles Rock Road, the area became known as Elleardsville. Elleardsville was formally incorporated into the city of St. Louis in 1876 following the passage of the city’s new charter separating it from St. Louis County. In the late nineteenth century, the neighborhood attracted German and Irish immigrants, along with some African Americans. The neighborhood’s first black institution, Elleardsville Colored School No. 8 (later renamed Simmons School), opened in 1873.

2024 Dail Chambers

Manager/Grower

 Dail Chambers  is a community seed and story keeper with Black and Indigenous heritage who works to reclaim and re-invigorate neglected urban spaces. She is currently the steward of an urban farm project in north St. Louis on properties that had formerly been vacant lots. The urban farm features useful native Midwestern plants and shrubs as well as vegetables and medicinal herbs, which are regularly shared with local community residents. North St. Louis is a region that has been deemed "blighted" due to low incomes, high crime, and high numbers of vacant buildings—the result of a long history of redlining and institutional racism. With this urban farm project, Dail hopes to improve the quality of life in her neighborhood from the ground up by providing access to healthy food, creating a social hub, and by turning each vacant lot into a peaceful and vibrant space. In addition to her urban farm work, Dail also has an active visual art practice and teaches workshops in wellness and sustainability.