A sign at the Wall Street Community Garden brings into focus what such green spaces are all about.
"Mission Statement: The purpose of the Wall Street Community Garden is to act as a catalyst for creating community by bringing together neighbors on Wall Street, in the Vine neighborhood, and in the greater Kalamazoo area. As the garden provides good food that nourishes our bodies, we seek to be good stewards of the earth and nourish the soil in which we grow. As a gardening community we learn from one another as we learn from the plants we grow."
The sign goes on to say the garden provides an easy way for gardeners who have extra produce to donate it to local food banks and meal providers.
The plots are entirely organic, and individuals are responsible for their own plots--half a raised bed. A $10 fee is paid to be a participant and gardeners are asked to volunteer on workdays to help maintain the garden. The work is coordinated by a garden manager.
Vine neighborhood residents are given priority but the garden, which started 13 years ago and may be the longest-standing community garden in the area, is open to anyone. Currently, the land supports 18 families.
For bike riders, this is the fifth stop on the recent garden tour of just a handful of the nearly 45 community gardens that grow throughout the area.
On bikes and by bus, those interested in learning more about these gardens spent the evening traveling from spot to spot finding out the unique characteristics of each piece of land and those who tend it. Some of those on the bus were there to get gardening ideas, others to see what kind of results are emerging from the soil of the neighborhoods and the neighbors' toil.
Those of us on the bus traveled first to the fertile fields of the DeLano Farms on the Kalamazoo Nature Center property where tour-goers learned the farm the Nature Center wanted to make better use of the property when it decided to farm the land and offer produce in a CSA or community supported agriculture, in which people buy a share of the year's harvest.
There was the rain garden on Willard Street (a garden started by the Kalamazoo County Land Bank and maintained by residents), and the Historic Stuart Neighborhood Community Garden near downtown.
The next stop was gardening at its beguiling best, a surprise even for someone who has lived in Kalamazoo for almost 30 years. The Five Senses Garden, on the grounds of the Kennedy Center, and was created to serve the Center for Disability Studies. It is, however, a public garden, and as its name implies appeals to each of the senses.
As one walks through the garden the changes in paving stones and small markers denote movement from one portion of the garden to the next. Pungent blooms, fur-covered leaves and edible herbs are all found there. Garden guests all stopped and stood on two big feet, placed in just the right spot for some acoustical magic. "Oh, wow," was the common reaction to the echo.
From there it was south to Portage to see The Giving Garden, a project undertaken by Master Gardeners of Kalamazoo, sponsored by Michigan State University Extension. Property owners Humphrey Products and Kendall Electric help support of this garden, located on Sprinkle Road. The produce from the Giving Garden goes to the Food Bank of South Central Michigan, Loaves & Fishes, or Ministry with Community (and unintentionally to the wild deer of Portage).
Volunteers showed how the work is planned out each season and how they keep track of what's been done and what needs to be done.
The tour came to a close at Trybal Revival Eastside Eco-garden, managed by Tomme Maile and Dale Abbot. There a partnership between Trybal Revival and the Land Bank has turned four vacant lots into a food forest using the principles of permaculture, a gardening approach that works with nature.
The gardners are establishing mature deciduous trees toward the back of the property--such as oak, hickory, chestnut. Mostly native, food producing trees, shrubs, vines and groundcovers are planned for the property.
There also are 20 raised beds filled with rich dirt, compost and other organic materials. Water for the gardens come from the roof of a neighboring house. It is held in storage tanks, and gravity feeds it to a spigot at the garden. The rainwater is supplemented with city water as needed.
The Community Garden Resource Shed also is found on the property. Built by more than 50 volunteers, the shed now houses garden tools used at no cost by community members throughout the Kalamazoo area.
As the tour bus returned to its starting place at the site of former Riverside Greenhouse the bus driver got a round of applause and trivia winners collected their zucchini before heading out.
The tour, which organizers hope will become an annual event, was presented by
Common Ground, a community-wide effort to promote and support gardening in neighborhoods, schools, churches and shared properties throughout Kalamazoo County.
Common Ground supports community garden projects throughout Kalamazoo County, with a special emphasis on those that serve low-income and food-insecure residents.
With funding through the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and Greater Kalamazoo United Way, Common Ground provides resources such as land, garden tools, topsoil and compost, plants and seeds, education and outreach, and funding.
Kathy Jennings in the managing editor of Southwest Michigan's Second Wave. She is a freelance writer and editor.
Photos courtesy Kalamazoo County Land Bank.