“I used to have a huge, huge garden. I enjoyed it. After the heart failure, though, I was too sick. But I’ve enjoyed having my hands in the dirt again… I love meeting the folks there and hearing a little bit of their stories, because it just rings so true.”

In the greenhouse, Alyssa stands proudly beside a wall of towering green beans. She grew them herself, using hydroponics.

“My favorite part was not knowing how it would work, and then getting to see the results,” she says, gesturing to one of the bean pods.