For more than two decades, Rufina Medina has nurtured the Garden of Youth, a vibrant community space, where children learn to grow tomatoes, corn and chili peppers.

But for the past several months, Medina says she and others have been unable to fully access the garden after the city sold part of the space to a private buyer.

A wooden plank now marks the property line between the flourishing garden and an overgrown lot that used to be part of it.

“I spend a lot of time working here, but I love it because I get to see the plants I grow,” Medina said in Spanish.

Medina said she used to have access to the entire space, including an area where children had their own individual planters.

That changed in April, when the city finalized the sale.

“There’s no space now,” she said.

City Councilmember Oswald Feliz, who represents the area, said he secured $700,000 in this year’s city budget to try to repurchase the lot and restore the garden to its original size.

“I, as a councilmember, was able to bring a total of $700,000 this fiscal year, which should be enough to hopefully purchase the lot so that we could make the Garden of Youth larger and even better for members of the community,” Feliz said.

The city estimates it could take between 12 to 24 months to complete the purchase. Feliz said any leftover funds will be reinvested into improvements for the garden.

In the meantime, Medina remains hopeful the current owner will allow temporary use of the land while negotiations continue.