Mounds Park Community Garden gets Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Mounds Park Community Garden proudly announces a technological leap into the future with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
SAINT PAUL, Minn., April 1, 2026
Community gardens face many challenges: vandalism, pests, unpredictable weather, and wolves. To address these issues, the leadership of the Mounds Park Community Garden (MPCG) will bring AI to their community garden.
“The idea,” said Nate Barber, President of the Mounds Park Community Garden, “Came to me during a meeting for the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council. We were discussing solutions to issues affecting our community when someone said, ‘Why don’t you just AI the problems?’”
“At first,” Mr. Barber continued. “I didn’t know what they were talking about. Who uses AI as a verb?!”
How will St. Paul’s Mounds Park Community Garden use this revolutionary technology? It begins with a bold shift in perspective: using AI as a verb.
“Last year, I had a hell of a time growing my tomatoes,” noted Mounds Park garden member Janet Stevens. “We also had a big storm come through and blow them all over. But this year, we can just AI our tomatoes and, BOOM, problem solved!”
Until now, MPCG has had an enthusiastic community of helpers to keep the garden running and looking great. Its dedicated community of volunteers has tackled the many tasks of maintaining and beautifying their space: mowing grass, pulling weeds, hauling mulch, and helping with the many social events either held at or hosted by the garden.
Gardening can be hard work. It takes patience, skill, generosity, time, tools, favorable weather, care, dedication, tools, and, in some cases, a little bit of cocaine to grow a really spectacular, vibrant garden. These are all tasks the garden can now AI.
“Our garden members,” said Mr. Barber, “Will notice some big changes around Mounds Park in 2026.”
To meet AI’s heavy demand for water and electricity, MPCG will partner with an undisclosed corporation to build and operate two large data centers on-site.
The north and south ends of the garden had been used to grow native plants. These habitats create a rich biodiversity that has attracted and supported pollinators, benefiting not just the community garden but the surrounding neighborhood. There is also a large communal garden plot that garden volunteers tend, growing flowers and vegetables to give away. These communal spaces will be razed to make room for the data centers.
Some neighbors have expressed concerns about the proposed developments.
Estimates show that cooling the MPCG data center’s servers will increase the garden’s water consumption by 3 times their current usage (and upwards of 5 times in hot years). Most of the water evaporates as steam, while the rest is rendered to a negligible tonnage of highly toxic mineral-rich slurry waste to be dumped over the garden fence, so it’s somebody else’s problem. And while the looming data centers will cast long shadows over the garden, depriving the members’ plots of much-needed sunshine, again, the garden plans to AI the issue, ensuring everyone has enough sunlight to kind of grow plants. Additionally, neighbors near the site can expect a significant hum, day and night, while the servers are AI’ing. And the ground under their homes may also vibrate slightly.
But, the leaders of MPCG and their undisclosed corporate partners maintain, the benefits of AI far outweigh the outsized consequences for the four-mile blast radius surrounding the garden.
“AI is inevitable,” posed Mr. Barber. “Either good guys like us will put it to use, or bad actors will.”
Media contact:
Tiberium “Skip” Mentaculus, Communications Director
Mounds Park Community Garden
moundsparkgarden@gmail.com
