Lawmakers in Albany voted to designate community gardens statewide as crucial to the urban environment, especially in the fight against climate change. The bill awaits the governor’s signature but the role of these gardens stretches back decades.
Urban-Farming Camps Have Kids Asking, Where’s the Healthy Food?
At summer programs in Harlem and the Bronx, children grow crops and talk about the limited sources of good nutrition in their neighborhoods.
Read more in the New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/dining/urban-farming-kids-healthy-food-new-york-city.html
Harlem Grown
127 W 127th St #201
New York, NY 10027
Gardens Vs Senior Housing: A Difficult Choice
After Elizabeth Street Garden founder’s death, a community struggles with the loss of the garden Allan Reiver left behind, while others push for needed, affordable senior housing. “…[T]here is no clear resolution for either housing or garden supporters. With low-income housing continuing to be a dire need in the city and the garden’s savior gone, the future is murky for the popular green space.”
Elizabeth Street Garden maps from 1822 to today:
Aerial and Satellite photographs from 1924 to 2015:
Haven Green Site Plan:
References:
Elizabeth Street Garden: https://www.elizabethstreetgarden.com
Haven Green site Plan: https://www.havengreencommunity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Haven-Green-Site-Plan.pdf
New York Times. (July 11, 2021), “Should an Oasis Be Replaced by Affordable Housing? SoHo Is Divided”. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/nyregion/soho-garden-allan-reiver.html
Scientists map the brain of a nematode worm | EurekAlert! Science News
Not a garden map but a map of something that might be in your garden.
Scientists map the brain of a nematode worm
UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS
— Read on www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/uol-smt022321.php
Plot Against Hunger Finds a New Home in 2021 | AFAC
Nice program in Arlington VA
“AFAC provides groceries, directly and free of charge, to people living in Arlington, VA, who cannot afford to purchase enough food to meet their basic needs.”
— Read on afac.org/plot-against-hunger-finds-a-new-home-in-2021/
Google Map of participating gardens and greenmarkets:
Escape Record Tourist Levels in NYC in these Secret Gardens
The New York Times’ metro newsletter, New York Today (8/16/2019), linked to this Curbed piece on “NYC’s best hidden parks and secret gardens, mapped,”
…not coincidentally under a feature on record tourist numbers.
Curbed (8/16/2019): NYC’s best hidden parks and secret gardens, mapped
https://ny.curbed.com/maps/new-york-park-community-garden-hidden
New York Today (8/19/2019): N.Y.C. Is on Pace to Draw a Record 67 Million Tourists This Year
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/nyregion/nyc-tourism.html
Map of Open Gardens Day Protest of Trump Immigration Policies
Dozens of NYC community gardens will participate in a on or around July 20 Open Gardens Day letter writing campaign to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policy, according to BK Reader.
“Community gardens and farms do more than just grow food and provide relaxing green spaces,” Alice Forbes-Spear of the 462 Halsey Community Garden told BK Reader. “We are important organizing spaces in our communities, and we will stand up for what is right. Together, we will amplify each others’ voices.”
Community gardens have a long history in NYC of being venues for organizing change. In fact, the first demonstration farm garden, located on the present day site of De Witt Clinton Park at West 52nd Street, was built between 1901 and 1906 as a recreational outlet for disabled children and the under-employed. Community gardens and similar green spaces continue to serve as sites of food justice activism, sustainable urban development and community organizing around green movements.
For a list of participating gardens and farms, along with the date and time of their events, check out this map.
Frederick Law Olmstead and Garden Design
Ten design lessons from Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture
from Signal v. Noise, By Matt Linderman, May 23 2011
“ He wrote, “Gardening does not conveniently include exposing great ledges, damming streams, making lakes, tunnels, bridges, terraces and canals.” Therefore, he said, “Nothing can be written on the subject in which extreme care is not taken to discriminate between what is meant in common use of the words garden, gardening, gardener, and the art which I try to pursue.” He also wrote extensively on design principles and his words still inspire many in the field to this day. By the time he began work as a landscape architect, Olmsted had developed a set of social values that gave purpose to his design work. But never too much, hardly enough.” Sources: The Olmsted legacy, Seven ‘S’ of Olmsted’s Design, The Design Principles of Frederick Law Olmsted, Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks, Central Park and the battle for organic lines in urban settings, and The genius behind Boston’s Emerald Necklace (PDF).“
Secret Gardens
Vogue Magazine recently shared a list of gardens offering respite to New Yorkers.
7 Secret Gardens Where You Can Find Reprieve in New York City
STEW-MAP: Map of Stewardship Groups in NYC
From GreenThumb’s August 2017 newsletter:
STEW-MAP is Live!
The STEW-MAP 2017 survey is now live! STEW-MAP is a map and searchable database of stewardship groups designed to help understand and strengthen our civic capacity to take care of New York’s neighborhoods. Your response and input helps support a vibrant, connected, and green NYC. Learn more about STEW-MAP, and contact stewmap.ufs@gmail.com with any questions.
New York City Garden Maps 