Tom Couri
One of my favorite aspects of the community exploration that
we’ve done this summer has been really delving into Woodlawn and seeing how so
many of the resources are linked together. There’s a sense of commonality and
shared knowledge and resources. This has never been more evident to me than at
our volunteer site this week, the 64th and Kimbark community garden.
The garden is located on vacant land owned by the 1st
Presbyterian Church. The garden is part of the Abundance Project, a Woodlawn
community project aiming to unite the community as a whole and improve access
to jobs, education, and general quality of life. The Abundance Project, much
like SSP, strives to focus on the assest of the community, the good things that
are in abundance, as opposed to the needs. Meg works for the Abundance Project
and is the head gardener, and she led us on a tour throughout the garden.
As I
walked through the front entrance, I passed Mr. Sterling, a Woodlawn resident
who farms half of the garden himself and is very good at it, as evidenced by
his plentiful crops and tall plants. I later learned that he buries fish
underneath his plants to enrich the soil. In Meg’s part of the garden she
showed us all of the different crops she’s growing: cucumbers, tomatoes,
greens, lettuce, and a corner of apple trees. She pointed across the street to
1st Presbyterian Church, where a group of people milled around the
entrance listening to jazz music. She explained that they were waiting in line
for the food pantry (where we will be volunteering next week).
What she said
next amazed me: some of the produce grown in her garden goes into the food
packages given away at the food pantry. The intersection of partnerships in the
community, continual local re-investment back into the community, and the
implications on community health of locally grown, organic fruit and vegetables
is an inspiration. As if on cue, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of
Public Health waltzed into the garden to hear about the project. We worked the
garden for the rest of the morning. Before we left I spoke to Mr. Sterling, who
confirmed the effectiveness of fish burials by pointing to his overflowing
plots. It seemed an appropriate sight at a garden run by the Abundance Project.
No comments:
Post a Comment