This 600 square foot garden on Broadway was adopted by a local development corporation in 1983 as a place for 'passive recreation.' The New York Restoration Project saved it from auction and added new soil and plants and it is now a 'viewing garden.'
Although something about the bars, doesn't make the view all that appealing. Or perhaps it's the lack of light. At any rate, considering the need for green space in the northern end of Bed-Stuy it's too bad it's no longer available for residents to sit in and relax.I'm afraid I was terribly neglectful as a neighbourhood blogger to post the notice handed out to me a week ago about the clean up and welcoming new members day with BBQ at our local community garden, the John the Baptist Community Garden on the corner of Stuyvesant Ave. and Vernon Ave. around the corner of Broadway. Anyway it was scheduled for last Saturday and despite the avid flyering on our block, was not even poorly attended. It was largely unattended except for Yolanda, the head honcho of the garden, one of the garden's 'officers,' three residents of the garden officer's building, a Latino family of three, and three other members of the John the Baptist Community Center. With nary a new member in sight. For some reason, despite the constant and busy traffic from people coming to and from the Myrtle train station, community garden members are hard to come by. One would think that people jump at the chance to have a little green space in this urban environment. But no. Anyway, even if you missed the BBQ, it's not too late to join, just contact Yolanda Golden @ (718) 443-5551.
Which made me think that perhaps because it's the city, the city folk are intimidated by the very idea of gardening. We have our own garden which we can barely keep up with (which is the reason we're not a member of the JTB one) and we have no idea what we're doing but we're loving it all the same, and learning every year. Aside from large corporations stepping in to give themselves a more friendly (non-sweatshop) face, there seems to be a large number of community garden volunteers cleaning up empty lots and making them bloom. This is great of course, but perhaps what we really need is some free gardening workshops. Fun gardening workshops, with food and music. Making the unknown doable and exciting. The famous quote being, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” I've always disliked the titles of the "For Dummies" series, however, I do like their concept, "For Dummies books use a lighthearted approach, a down-to-earth style, and even cartoons and humorous icons to dispel fears and inspire confidence." They have Gardening Basics for Dummies, perhaps a similar approach could work.
And then there's the guerrilla gardeners who turn vacant lots into gardens without permission, the most well known being Richard Reynolds and his blog, Guerrilla Gardening. The NY Times Magazine this past weekend did a profile on him with a great video on making seed bombs. Below is a video of RR and his posse in action in London:
Which made me think that perhaps because it's the city, the city folk are intimidated by the very idea of gardening. We have our own garden which we can barely keep up with (which is the reason we're not a member of the JTB one) and we have no idea what we're doing but we're loving it all the same, and learning every year. Aside from large corporations stepping in to give themselves a more friendly (non-sweatshop) face, there seems to be a large number of community garden volunteers cleaning up empty lots and making them bloom. This is great of course, but perhaps what we really need is some free gardening workshops. Fun gardening workshops, with food and music. Making the unknown doable and exciting. The famous quote being, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” I've always disliked the titles of the "For Dummies" series, however, I do like their concept, "For Dummies books use a lighthearted approach, a down-to-earth style, and even cartoons and humorous icons to dispel fears and inspire confidence." They have Gardening Basics for Dummies, perhaps a similar approach could work.
And then there's the guerrilla gardeners who turn vacant lots into gardens without permission, the most well known being Richard Reynolds and his blog, Guerrilla Gardening. The NY Times Magazine this past weekend did a profile on him with a great video on making seed bombs. Below is a video of RR and his posse in action in London:
