Community Gardens

The term COMMUNITY GARDENS, most commonly refers to vacant plots of land, primarily in urban areas, which have been transformed by community residents into beautiful green oases.  These gardens usually consist of a myriad of flowers, vegetables, and trees and have the ability to act as a community meeting place.  Many neighborhoods in New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago currently have community gardens within their perimeters, but it is important to remember that this is not a uniquely inner city idea.  Community gardens are also sprouting up in smaller communities around the country.   Listed below is a catalog of resources which will aid in the establish of a community garden or simply increase your knowledge of the subject.

Listed below are three particularly interesting resources:
 

Boston Urban Gardeners.  A Handbook of Community Gardening.  New York:  Charles Scribner’s Sons,
    1982.

This book is a comprehensive guide to organizing a commuity garden in one’s own neighborhood.  The Boston Urban Gardeners write of their own successes in developing community gardens throughout their city.  They go through the process step by step, from locating a good site for the garden to explaining how best to harvest the fruits and vegetables which have been grown.  The book is full of ideas that can be applied to any community. (LL)
 

City Farmer.  April 14, 1998. “Rooted in Community”:  Community Gardens in New York City.  Available
    from the World Wide Web:  http://www.cityfarmer.org/NYcomgardens.html

This web site contains the statement to the New York State Senate written by Carole Nemore of the Senate Minority Office.  It addresses the current debate in New York City over whether or not lands containing community gardens should be sold to private developers.  It has been shown that many times when a developer is in control of the land, he/she chooses to destroy the existing community gardens in order to use for development purposes.   In this statement, results from questionaires distributed to many of the communities affected by this issue are presented, which suggest the great importance that these gardens play within neighborhoods.(LL)
 

Huff, B. Greening the city streets: the story of community gardens.  New York:  Clarion Books, 1990.

Compiled in photo-essay format, this resource outlines the urban gardening movement in the US, with particular analysis devoted to the Sixth Street and Avenue B Garden in Manhattan. This book also includes bibliographical references.(NH)
 

Balmori, Diana and Morton, Margaret. Transitory Gardens, Uprooted Lives.  New Haven:  Yale University
    Press, 1993.

It is through photographs and the written word, that Balmori and Morton express the significant role which gardens play in New York City.  They show how community gardens have been used to stabilize otherwise devestated communities and their importance among New York’s poorest citizens.  This book is meant to be a celebration of the beauty which many, many people have worked very hard to create. (LL)
 

City Green: the Urban Gardening Program in Philadelphia. University Park:  The Service, 1979.

A research conducted by the Pennsylvania State University Agricultural Extension Service, this resource covers both the practice of gardening and establishment of community gardens in both Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Particular coverage is provided on the Urban Gardening Program currently set up in Philadelphia. This provides an interesting case study to parallel to the paradigms that we will eventually set up in this design studio. (NH)
 

Franklin, A. The church & the garden in the Black community, as nurturing elements and form of creative
   expression. thesis (m.a) bradley university, 1985.

This is a master’s students’ thesis from Bradley University.  It provides analysis of the integral link between gardening and churches to create a community environment and also discusses the active role of art in this interplay. The research particularly concerns such activity amongst black communities of the United States.(NH)
 

Thompson, J. William.  “San Francisco’s Gardens of Diversity, The Problem:  Unemployment and Derelict
    Land,”  Landscape Architecture Magazine.  Jan. 1993.  Vol. 83, No.1: pg. 56-8.

Landscape Architecture Magazine showcases a community garden developed in the low-income area of Bayview/Hunter’s Point, CA.  Its creation is due to the organizational efforts of the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG).  It is unique because SLUG trained local community members to do the landscape construction.  The organization also keeps a landscape architect on staff. (LL)
 

Warner, S. To dwell is to garden: a history of Boston’s community gardens. Boston:  North-eastern
    University Press, 1987.

Traces the history of community gardens, particularly those of Massachusetts and Boston of which it provides a pictorial history. This resource also reviews specific gardeners and vegetable gardening, particularly, in these two regions.(NH)