Category: 2014

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.