Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. -May Sarton
It’s been a long, frighteningly hot, and — for far too many Americans — disastrous summer. Wildfires evicted tens of thousands from their homes. Besieged farmers watched fields of corn planted with so much hope in the spring shrivel and die. Electrical storms raced across the country leaving devastation and damaged power grids in their wake. Here in D.C., with temperatures topping 105 degrees at times, we’ve ventured out into the sweltering heat at our own peril. And yet, it is when we do that we have discovered some beautiful oases of life’s bounties. The IS crew had a chance to do that just a few weeks ago.
Each summer our staff volunteers with a couple of local nonprofits. The goals are pretty straightforward: to give back, to be part of the local community, and to help others. This year one of these activities was at a brand new community garden in a working class neighborhood in downtown Washington. It was started by two resourceful young people who took the initiative and asked the D.C. government to allocate 2.7 acres for a community garden in an open space graced with little more than some tired looking grass and weeds. With just a few dollars and a whole lot of determination, they talked to the neighbors living around the ‘park’ and encouraged them to help build out their own plots. Bit by bit, row by row, a food garden has taken shape.
Fencing went up around the initial individual plots, enticing other local residents to ask to get in on the action. They could have a private plot for a very modest fee, but with one catch: they had to donate two hours of labor per month in the communal portion of the garden outside the enclosures. With over 50 plots in all, soon the common space benefited from more than 100 hours per month of donated help. The result: mostly vegetables, but also fruit trees and flowers, and a splendid strawberry patch have sprouted, all available for the picking by garden neighbors.
This small project already has produced some visible benefits. A children's garden attracts urban children from young families with few opportunities to view where fresh produce comes from and how it grows. The act of gardening — recalibrating our inner timepieces to "the slow circles of nature," as May Sarton puts it — gives harried city-dwellers a longer time horizon in which to breathe easy, in which to dream.
Caring for a plot, sharing seeds, tools, and gardening tips, and harvesting a few berries or sunflowers from the common space has united neighbors in a shared vision and purpose. It has given them something to talk about, something to work on together, something to benefit from, and something to give away. Through the garden many met for the first time.
All too many neighborhoods have empty lots and other vacant spaces. I bet you know of one in your community. Each junk-filled lot, each crabgrass-infested open space represents the possibility of transformation. Some spaces can be retrofitted for art production and display; some can fill the dire need for playgrounds where kids can make friends and noise and actually have FUN together. Like kids of old, they can jostle each other in a good-natured fashion and get a little much-needed exercise to boot. Some eyesores have community garden written all over them. The choice, of course, is the community’s. But what a way to bring people together and also meet needs.
Recently, I was at a supermarket in the Midwest buying a week’s worth of fresh produce. The young cashier eyed my purchases, and said: "I wish I could afford to buy fresh healthy food." It made me sad to think that a person working full time could not afford the nutrition and delight of fresh peaches or green peppers. I mentioned to her the idea of community gardens and encouraged her to visit the local arboretum where I had seen some community garden plots. Who knows? She might decide to join others at the public gardens or even bring the idea back to her neighborhood.
Just around the block from my front door in downtown D.C. is a postage stamp-size garden overflowing with flowers all season long. Tulips, peonies, roses, lilies, hydrangeas, sedum, asters… the slow circle of color and scent revolves before our eyes. It beautifies the neighborhood and is the pride and joy of its volunteers. No matter which path I take to walk or ride my bike, I always find a way to go past that garden.
In each of our neighborhoods and common spaces, we can find and invent these amazing experiences. As our nonprofit community knows so well, giving a little can bring great rewards. I invite you to share with us what you are doing to bring these small changes to our world.
An Important Subject
I encourage you to read this extremely important commentary by Jim Canales, CEO of the James Irvine Foundation, on the Penn State tragedy.
