A Lot Grows in Harlem (8/30/14)

Truly. Saturday was the Ninth Annual Harlem Green Garden Tour, a visit to 18 community gardens from West 118th Street through West 162nd Street (though I skipped that stop). Last year, I joined the tour about midway through; this year, I was there from the very beginning. I figured I’d do the early portion and maybe skip the afternoon, since I’d seen most of those gardens before. I ended up staying all day, from 10:00am until about 4:30pm. The volunteers/hosts even fed us at the beginning and end! 

At the first stop, the Joseph Daniel Wilson Memorial Garden, there was a modest breakfast: frittatas, French toast, juices/coffee/water, yogurt, fresh fruit, pastries, and even gumbo. Yes indeed, ’Meister had homemade gumbo for breakfast. The garden itself boasted a beehive, mulberry and fig trees, and a pond. All of these gardens are reclaimed land—empty lots tended to by volunteers working in conjunction with a couple of different city agencies. The second stop was just a short walk away. 

Willie, the host at Our Little Green Acre, was quite a character. He was happy to explain what was growing in the garden, including apple and peach trees, with fruit on them, and okra. I don’t think I’d ever seen okra growing before. He also took a small group out to a nearby statue (separate from the garden, proper) to show us cotton and peanuts that he planted. The cotton has big round balls just waiting to open. I plan on going back in late September or early October to see the fully opened blossoms.

One of the gardens had 46 individual plots—volunteers are able to work their own plots (I think there may be a fee involved) and grow whatever they want, be it flowers, veggies, etc. A Girl Scout troop makes sure to plant sunflowers in the community space there every year. One of the gardens on West 128th Street was relatively small, but just down the street a bit was an interlinked group of three separate garden spaces that they control. A volunteer there said that anyone was welcome to just sit a spell any time that the gardens were open—quiet time only, though. One caveat, if you’re going visiting to some of these community gardens not during a tour, it’s sometimes hit or miss in finding the lots actually unlocked.

 

I got a chance to speak with one of the volunteers at the Harlem Rose Garden. She stated, and rightly so, that the tour does not show off the garden to its best advantage, as most of the roses had already been and gone. But the pathways and trees are pleasant, and there’s a pond with koi in it. Note to self: Be sure to visit the Rose Garden earlier in the season next summer.

I always like seeing the Success Garden/Harlem Grown site, with its well-laid-out plots and tons and tons of tomatoes, peppers, collards, kale, etc. The plots there are used as teaching exhibits for the charter school across the street, and the produce goes home with the students—a win-win situation, in my book. 

The gardens in the West 140s and 150s were a little bit more sedate; one is actually part of the city parks system. And then at the last stop they fed us again, with burgers, hot dogs, chicken, corn, pasta salad, and sodas. Did I mention that the tour and food were free?!? I did make a modest donation, as I think the tour is such a cool thing. I was a tired little ’Meister Saturday evening, but it was worth it!

ConcertMeister 

p.s. The program booklet included a list of 29 more West and Central Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood community gardens and 37 in East Harlem. I’ll have to explore as summer winds down and eases into fall.