Community Gardens
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Wilmington. Credit in part the Delaware Center for Horticulture—which supports 22 community gardens, urban farms, and school gardens—and the Delaware Urban Farm Coalition, which has helped numerous gardens get up and running. Founded in 2007 as the Wilmington Urban Farm Coalition, the group includes community members, government oÿ cials, nonprofi t leaders, and farmers. The coalition’s premier example is DCH’s Urban Farm at 12th and Brandywine streets in the 11th Street Bridge neighborhood. Installed in 2009, the garden has growing space for neighborhood families as well as a commercial production area, which sells fresh produce weekly during the season to neighbors. More than 1,200 pounds of organically grown vegetables were harvested last year. The farm is up to 19 community beds (a total of 1,216 square feet) and 26 production beds (1,584 square feet). A part-time farmer oversees the beds and helps educate the community growers. “Anyone can come in, get information, and ask questions,” says Tara Tracy, DCH’s urban agriculture manager. “DCH volunteers help the growers—it’s a nice collaboration.” The project clearly goes beyond beautifying and utilizing vacant lots. DCH is targeting what are known as “urban food deserts,” says Wendy Scott, assistant director of public relations. These patches exist in urban areas where residents don’t have ready access to fresh foods. Getting to the supermarket may require two different buses, and few bus riders want to lug heavy grocery bags full of produce home with them. It’s easier to zip into corner convenience stores or local food vendors for fast, processed food that may not be good for them. Nourishing a food desert and bringing the community together is the motivation behind the Rodney Street Reservoir, a community garden that began this summer. The project, the brainchild of Luigi Vitrone of Pastabilities, is a collaboration of the City of Wilmington, which owns the property between North Rodney and North Clayton streets, the Cool Spring Neighborhood Association, the Little Italy Neighborhood Association, and Cornerstone West, a sister organization to West End Neighborhood House, which serves as a catalyst for revitalization in Wilmington’s west side. All the Rodney Street Reservoir’s garden’s 20 8-by-10-foot plots—built with support from EDiS and the Peninsula Compost Group—are booked at $25 each, and there is a waiting list, says Christian Willauer, a neighborhood planner with Cornerstone West.
“People like to garden near their homes,” she says. “They don’t want to drive to Bellevue.” Or, for lack of transportation, they can’t, and there’s no room in their own backyard for a garden. Most the growers at the reservoir have planted vegetables; some people have planted flowers as well. That’s also the case at Westminster Presbyterian Church. After services, when tea is served outside, many parishioners gravitate toward the garden, where sunfl owers are bobbing, Ledbetter says. “They’re so cheery looking.” Gardening’s therapeutic and relaxing effects have not been lost on the Department of Agriculture, which offered support to the Rodney Street Reservoir project. It also helped start a garden at the Delaware Psychiatric Center. There is also a DCH-supported garden at Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution. “The women not only learn how to grow and manage the garden, but they learn about food presentation, safe food handling, and fl oral arranging,” Tracy says. In 2006, the inmates named it “A Garden of Hope: A Place for Peace.” This is the second year for a garden at Kingswood Community Center. It’s tended by participants in the center’s Project Stay Free, which assists youths who’ve recently been released from detention centers. The garden has 14 raised beds. The students this summer grew cabbage, hot peppers, tomatoes, melons, and lima beans. “Through our research in class, we learned that Delaware is a leading provider of lima beans,” says James Bailey, lead teacher of Project Stay Free. The students, who all live in New Castle County, get to take vegetables home. “That’s one of the blessings in all of this,” Bailey says. “It’s bountiful this year.” So much so that the group gives some produce to the seniors who meet at the center. Ultimately, the group would like to start a farm stand. Clearly, these gardens nourish a sense of community spirit and foster practical skills. They also help participants eat healthier. But the fl avor is one of the most lingering perks. “We had a potluck and people brought things made from our crops,” says Ledbetter of Westiminster Presbyterian. The church plans to hold another so that the gardeners can talk about adding more beds. “Just eating the fresh food,” she concludes, “has been tremendous.”
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8/25/2011 10:23:00 AM