A gardener shows off their patriotism.
Photo by Watson Dolhare
One of the composting sites used by gardeners to make use of the biological material from weeds. "Cooking" a compost site refers to allowing the material in the site to decompose naturally so as to better release the potential nutrients in the plants when the compost is used as soil later.
Photo by Nadav Pais-Greenapple
A stand of coneflowers blooms along the wall of the four-acre site. Plants that spread easily, like coneflowers, are planted along the wall away from the garden plots to prevent these plants from overtaking other people's gardens.
Photo by Nadav-Pais Greenapple
Each gardener can decorate their plot however they deem appropriate. Some, like this gardener, choose to include decorative pieces such as bird baths.
Photo by Nadav Pais-Greenapple
Diversity in professions and backgrounds is common in the gardens. Akman said this plot is owned by an interior designer and color specialist.
Photo by Nadav Pais-Greenapple
Despite a heat wave that has plagued D.C. with more than three days of 90+ degree heat, these flowers are still as vibrant as ever, thanks to the Newark Street Community Garden's new watering system.
Photo by Nadav Pais-Greenapple
A group of daisies soaks up the sun. While the heat wave this past week has been uncomfortable for humans, these flowers are doing well.
Photo by Gia Scirrotto
A group of plots in the gardens. The community gardens have 190 members and 200 plots, with a waiting list more than 100 people long.
Photo by Gia Scirrotto
A closer look at one of the many garden plots seen in the previous photo.
Photo by Gia Scirrotto
Susan Akman points to one of the garden's new compost bins. These bins are more advanced than the open-air compost piles currently used by the gardens, and are designed to lower the time required for the compost to "cook." They are kept under lock and key to ensure their security.
Photo by Watson Dolhare
More hardy flowers brave the 90+ degree heat.
Photo by Gia Scirrotto
The rain garden that is on the property of the adjacent dog park has, much to Akman's chagrin, fallen into neglect and has become overgrown.
Photo by Watson Dolhare
This picnic table is in the children's garden. Children young as 2 years old come to plant things such as garlic and tomatoes.
Photo by Gia Scirrotto
This plot belongs to Elwood Gautier, a longtime member of the Newark Community Garden. At one time, Gautier used an unused plot to grow food to donate to food banks.
Photo by Nadav Pais-Greenapple
Susan Akman inspects the fruits of one patron's labor. Excess foodstuffs are commonly donated to food banks in the area.
Photo by Watson Dolhare
A group of flowers of varying colors comes into bloom in this neatly organized plot of the gardens.
Photo by Watson Dolhare
A plastic flamingo adorns the barrier of one patron's plot and looks out over the rest of the gardens. Ornaments like these are common, and serve to make each plot more unique and individualized.
Photo by Watson Dolhare
The adjacent children's playground provides space for kids to play in the shade of large metal flowers. The garden, playground and nearby dog park all share the same water supply.
Photo by Nadav Pais-Greenapple
Susan Akman walks down one of the garden's long woodchip paths, flanked by the patrons' plots.
Photo by Watson Dolhare
WASHINGTON —The Newark Street Community Garden, on the corner of 39th and Newark streets, is celebrating its 40th year. And despite the recent consecutive days of over 90-degree weather, gardeners are still out planting and maintaining their plots. Susan Akman, a senior gardener and former president of the board. loves to come to the gardens between 5:30 and 6:30 in the morning.
“It is very peaceful,” Akman said. So much so that she recalled one woman’s immediate reaction to 9/11 was to come to the gardens, she said.
The garden may be a quiet, tranquil space, but a lot of hard work goes into the upkeep of the plots, Akman said. Many of the 190 gardeners come out on the second Saturday of every month in order to remove weeds and plant new crops. The garden community is extremely diverse.
“We have people from all over the world,” Akman said, with community members bringing unique crops and agricultural techniques from regions including Portugal, Lithuania and parts of Africa and Asia.
Gardeners have the freedom to make their plots as colorful and creative as they want, so long as none of their crops are invasive species. The work pays off. The garden is the “largest, and probably the oldest” of its kind in the area, Akman said.
To find out more about the Newark Street Community Gardens, visit their website here.
WASHINGTON — In the nation’s captial, you might not imagine that people have time to plant their own flowers and vegetables. But The Newark Street Community Garden, on the corner of Newark and 39th streets in the McLean neighborhood, is one of 26 urban gardens throughout the District where people can do just that. There are also education programs where toddlers and young children can learn about plants and wildlife. There are 200 plots and 190 gardeners who maintain this green sanctuary.
As the community garden social services chairperson and veteran gardener, Susan Akman takes pride in how the garden benefits the surrounding community. Newark donates a portion of her crops to local food banks for families that are less fortunate, she said. She recently took this reporter on a tour of the garden.
The garden got started in 1974 on National Food Day, a day that inspires Americans to change their diets and food policies. The grounds where the gardens now stand used to be military offices during World War II. Akman said when the community was looking for space to plant these gardens the foundation was a clay field, which made it perfect for planting crops. The rules of the garden are enforced by a board and members must read and agree to all, Akman said. “Gardeners must commit 10 hours a season, weed weekly, and maintain their plots,” Akman said. In other words, if you do not maintain your plot, the board will ask you to give up your plot and the next person on the waiting list will get it.
The National Cathedral, which can be seen from the gardens, is nearing a $22 million repair job due to the 5.8 magnitude earthquake in 2011. Photo by Justin Gick
The garden also includes a tennis court, dog park and children’s playground. The key feature of these gardens, the largest in the District is that you are able to look out and see the magnificent National Cathedral.
The gardens are a peaceful sanctuary for community members and gardeners to unwind after a stressful day at work. “On 9/11 when the plane hit the Pentagon, one gardener, instead of running home to family like many others, came and just reflected in the garden because it was peaceful,” said Akman.
The community gardeners also take time to educate children, Akman said. “There are special days when children can come and learn about the garden and what insects help fertilize the soil,” Akman said. “The children’s favorite part is when they get a chance to water the garden and get muddy.” After each session the children are given healthy snacks, such as a watermelon slice, graham crackers and water, she said.
In the garden there is a variety of flowers and vegetables, including beans, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peppers and radishes. During the winter months, gardeners must have their plots cleared if they are not planting anything. There is one gardener who plants lettuce year-round.
But there’s a two-year waitlist. “It is well worth the wait,” Akman said.
The sign that welcomes people into the garden. Photo by Emma Geotz
WASHINGTON — It was 1974. The occasion? National Food Day, a discontinued holiday today, but at the time, the inspiration for creating The Newark Street Community Garden, celebrating its 40th anniversary this fall. From international residents to families who live right down the street, the garden provides a service to the community of not only convenience and beauty, said Susan Akman, a longtime gardener and member of the board.
At the garden, deemed official in 1975, those first urban farmers brought their own water for their plants on the previously military-owned property. Their water source now runs through their four acres of land to their points of attraction: the playground, tennis courts and dog park.
Walking through the 200 plots, everywhere one looks there is something new. From arrangements of flowers that cover the entire plot to those that have a robust vegetable patch, gardeners have a creative license when planting to leave their own mark on the community garden.
Although there are many local gardeners, international gardeners have a place in the garden as well. While some gardeners protect their plot from deer and fox, a couple from Lithuania has a taller fence around the plot, in addition to a locked gate, to protect the plants themselves. A man from Africa planted fava beans and a pepper that appears to “look like jack o’ lanterns,” Akman said.
While families may come to the garden to grow for their own dinner tables, the garden also serves as comfort for others. A woman who experienced loss during 9/11 came to the garden as therapy, Akman said. “It is a very peaceful place,” she said, adding that she often comes to garden from 5:30 to 6:30 in the morning, finding comfort in the quiet.
A garden for the community, by the community
The trees planted from the Casey Trees organization help to enhance this unique acreage behind the National Cathedral, visible from the garden. Out of the 30 trees planted, only one has been lost. The trees have “made an incredible difference in this community,” Akman said.
Elwood Gautier, a master gardener, has taken his fresh produce tomatoes, yellow squash and lettuce to Miriam’s Kitchen for about three years. “He would wash every head of lettuce” and send them to the soup kitchen, Akman said.
And while some residents might be choosing air-conditioning during the high temperatures D.C. has seen this summer, gardeners were out tending to their cherished plants on a recent day where the forecast was for the mid-90s. There are 190 gardeners tending to one or two of the 200 plots available; there’s about a two-year waitlist, Akman said. Some plots have gone through generations of families.
Members range from toddlers to those in their 90s. The garden’s educational program “is a big hit,” Akman said. Children can plant, water and harvest their own vegetables and flowers, Akman said, and the children’s garden now features a small wooden picnic table and donated animal statues.
The “Kids Only” playground is adjacent to the urban gardens and the dog park. Photo by Emma Goetz
The playground
When the gate to the playground shuts, one is left with the view of animated flowers towering over a plastic treehouse that reads, “Kids Only.” Children play on the bright green monkey bars, and the plastic log slides lead down to a blue padded ground surrounding the play area.
Katterinee Salgado was visiting the playground for the first time, trying something new for the two kids she babysat, she said. The playground was right down the street “so it’s easy” to take the kids down for an hour of play before lunchtime, she said.
The shade the trees provide was much appreciated, not only by Salgado, but also by Doulat Kapoor, who was pushing his daughter in a plastic car stroller down the blue walkway that curves through the playground. Like Salgado and her charges, this family also lives close by. The park is “right for her age,” Kapoor said. The family goes to the park “almost every day.”
For more information about the garden and Newark Park, go to their website.
200 gardens are located on 4 acres of land. Photo by Angela Frank.
Bright flowers illuminate the garden.
Photo by Danielle Nahabedian.
Susan Akman proudly displays one of the gardens.
Photo by Ashley Gallagher.
Organization is evident in
Elwood Gautier's display.
Photo by Danielle Nahabedian.
A giant flower soars above children at play. Photo by Danielle Nahabedian.
Marguerite Pridgen shows off her garden. Photo by Ashley Gallagher.
One of the many gardens in bloom. Photo by Danielle Nahabedian.
WASHINGTON — The Newark Street Community Garden is tucked between Wisconsin and Massachusetts avenues: two of the District’s busiest roads. Just north of the garden is the National Cathedral. “We’re fortunate that they haven’t put high rises here; we were worried,” Susan Akman, a longtime gardener, said. The garden, celebrating its 40th anniversary, features 200 plots of land tended by 190 different gardeners. It is the largest of 26 community gardens in the District. Each plot has its own assortment of flowers and vegetables, telling the stories of its caretakers.
Whether sprawled out or carefully organized, each plot reflects the personality and diversity of the gardener. Louisiana native Elwood Gautier meticulously arranges his produce into square spaces and donates it to a local food bank, Miriam’s Kitchen. Many others also make seasonal donations, and gardeners host a day in which they donate produce to SOME (So Others Might Eat).
Longtime gardener Akman is always looking for new ideas for her garden, and she works behind the scenes, constantly trying to beautify the entire four-acre park. She has been experimenting with “companion planting,” such as planting cucumbers alongside plants that smell like cucumbers to keep pests away and to attract pollinators. Her garden is filled with radishes, tomatoes, beans, carrots, lettuce, chard and garlic. She also works with young aspiring gardeners, usually ages 2 to 4, and teaches little ones the basics.
While she enjoys her work with the young children in the park, she also cherishes time alone when the garden is quiet. Akman finds solace in gardening, especially early in the morning when only the church bells toll. “I love to come at about 5:30 in the morning,” she said.
Another avid gardener is Marguerite Pridgen, a garden association board member . She has tended a plot for four years after being on the waiting list for more than a year. She describes herself as an ”urban farmer” because she primarily plants crops. “I like to have control of my food supply,” she says. She enjoys growing organic food and shares it with her mother. Her biggest tip for other gardeners is to employ the use of raised beds because they help avoid weeds.
Pridgen is in charge of enforcing the garden’s rules. For instance, gardeners are not allowed to grow invasive plants, grow plants too close to the fence, or neglect their gardens. All of these rules were implemented to ensure that the people tending the gardens actually want to be there. This is especially important considering that there is a two-year waiting list for aspiring gardeners. When a member is not complying with the rules, she reports them to the board. “People need to stay on top of them,” she said. Recently, issues have arisen because of infractions that are not written directly in the rules, but need to be addressed. A couple has put a grill in their garden, which has been a point of contention for the board. “We try not to update the rules,” she said. She hates to enforce the rules, but “It’s a lot of common sense things.”
Despite issues, the garden community is finding ways to stretch its roots throughout the neighborhood. The garden caters to everyone, with a playground, dog park and picnic area. “We are a community. We help each other. Everyone pitches in to help,” Akman said.
A sign in front of Peggie Lewis’s garden greets visitors. Photo by Valerie Akinyoyenu
WASHINGTON — Wake up and smell the garden, literally. Forty years ago, Ann Chase asked the city to start a community garden to commemorate National Food Day. Today, the Newark Street Community Garden is the largest and one of the oldest in the District, situated on four acres of land with about 200 plots tended by roughly 190 gardeners. The area also showcases picnic areas, a playground, tennis courts and a newly added dog park. Although the garden is successful, the association has encountered many obstacles.
The beautification plots in front of the garden are tended by volunteer gardeners, such as Peggie Lewis. “It’s for the neighbors,” Lewis said. When a fountain was installed in the playground in the vicinity, these plots were disturbed by the digging of a water source, and the byproducts of the construction contaminated the soil and made it difficult for these plants to grow, she said.
Concerns about contamination from animals, such as deer and birds, began to rise. Even though the gardeners have a system of protecting their gardens, the wildlife still prevails.
One gardener, Brad Foss, said, “The birds are smarter than me.”
Peggie Lewis at the main entrance to the urban gardens, the largest in the District. Photo by Valerie Akinyoyenu
Foss grows blueberries in his 15-by-15 plot, which are difficult to grow, he said, because they are complex and require a very high level of acidity in their soil. Most of the plots are surrounded by netting, but the birds manage to find tunnels through the nets. Deer have also managed to make their way into plots every so often. “The deer love everything we put in,” Lewis said.
The garden has also been frequented by what local gardeners call “The Flower Thief.” Lewis said this person cuts blooming flowers from the gardens and then sells them to floral shops by claiming he has a garden in Virginia.
Members have to take care of their gardens and volunteer 10 hours in order to keep their plot. “We have a very strict group of rules,” said Susan Akman, former president and 30-year member of the garden. “We want our rules to give framework and not to lose people but to instruct.”
The garden has met challenges, and it still draws support from many. Gardner Martha Baron said, “I like to be outdoors, it’s exercise… I love growing things and seeing them bloom.” Baron tends to her garden two to three times a week with the occasional help of her grandchildren. She grows tomatoes, English daisies, basil, phoxs and green peppers.
“Gardening is our therapy. It’s our escape,” said Akman. “I have a great love and passion for it.”
Martha Barron plants a variety of flowers and vegetables.
WASHINGTON — Here in the city, not many would expect to wander into a 4-acre community garden. Newark Street Community Garden, however, defies the stereotype that there is little green in cities by providing community members with the opportunity to garden a plot of land.
Newark Street Community garden, started in 1974, part of the District of Columbia’s Department of Parks and Recreation, has a waiting list of 80-plus people and more than 200 members. Current gardeners and aspiring ones share a passion for gardening and treasure its many benefits. Martha Barron, a lover of the outdoors and dedicated gardener, values this urban garden because she thinks “it is a healthy outdoor activity,”and“it is good for the oxygen and all the scientific elements.”
With green living becoming more popular in areas around the U.S., cities are beginning to open their eyes to having city community gardens. As Barron said, the plants are good for the oxygen because they filter the air removing fine particles. Plants also hold the soil more firmly, preventing runoff and increase the communities overall consumption of locally grown foods, which has both health and environmental gains. Lastly, according to several studies, merely seeing plant life can lower blood pressure, alleviate muscle tension and reduce anxiety.
But Newark Community garden is not alone in bringing a little bit of green back into concrete cities. In several other major U.S, cities urban gardens have become more prevalent as more people are catching on to the benefits city gardens provide to both the environment and community.
New York, Chicago and Washington have taken advantage of the soothing nature of gardens in order to make their cities more livable. To many garden goers coming to the Newark garden is like what Martha described as “being a therapy.” Personally, Barron “enjoys seeing things grow ” even the overgrown vines she said as she tried to tear it down in order to prevent getting a citation.
However, while the gardens may offer up a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle found in the city, maintaining the garden is no easy task. Susan Akman, a past president of the community garden said she looks at the garden rules as being a strict framework, a framework that has to be followed in order to keep the gardens positive influence. Akman describes their policy toward gardening as not doing anything that will “hurt the community and environment.” Gardeners are also expected to come in for 10 hours a week and help out with maintenance every so often.
To some this framework may appear to be daunting, but Akman said that they “don’t want to to lose people …they want people to be educated.” And almost always Akman says, they will give their gardeners the “benefit of the doubt.”
Newark garden welcomes the community.
In Washington alone there are more than 30 community gardens, but the members of the Newark community garden believe that there is something special about theirs. Besides differences in gardening style and its size and age, Akman says that it is a “wonderful community.” She says that it is one of the few places in the city where “no one asks you what you do.” Newark community garden has made huge efforts to make the gardens even more welcoming to the community. With a dog park, tennis court, playground, picnic area and grills, the gardens welcome the members of the community to spend time in their sanctuary from the city.
Akman and the other gardeners “have a great love and passion” for gardening and therefore try to share it with the community.
