http://www.flickr.com/photos/35460628@N03/sets/72157620192780107/

The Vegetable-Industrial Complex from The New York Times Magazine
What’s Eating America from the Smithsonian
Breaking Ground: The Call of the Wild Apple from The New York Times

2. Food As Sign and Code by Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35460628@N03/sets/

I added photos to a ‘Community Gardens’ set in my flickr account, under calee9929.

Google Map in progress:

More photos to come

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108539177142174412105.00046cd2fd0ada913f7db&ll=40.109522,-88.253517&spn=0.029803,0.075788&z=14

More information and links on archive images:

**The Edible Schoolyard

http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/

–The Edible Schoolyard (ESY), a program of the Chez Panisse Foundation, is a one-acre organic garden and kitchen classroom for urban public school students at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California. At ESY, students participate in all aspects of growing, harvesting, and preparing nutritious, seasonal produce.

**Chicago Park District

http://www.cpdit01.com/resources/community_gardens/index.html

–Harvest Garden

The Harvest Garden program gives children age 8-12, a three season in-depth experience with organic vegetable gardening. The program started in 2000 with a few parks, and has grown to reach 16 parks throughout the city. While our primary goal is to help children appreciate nature by giving them a broader understanding of it, we also aim to incorporate other areas of learning. We read books, do creative writing and visual art activities, and play a lot of games.

–Rainbow Park Victory Garden

The Rainbow Park Victory Garden was established by Rainbow park neighbors during the Second World War. Neighbors’ Garden, in the Logan Square neighborhood, is unique in that the entire park is a community garden. Whereas the gardening group at Wicker Park is composed of many dedicated people who contribute in various ways to the neighborhood, not only through their gardening, but also by organizing fundraising efforts and creating programs for kids.

–Jackson Park – Urban Farm

Plans are fast underway for an Urban Farm in Jackson Park which will include hoop greenhouses and raised beds managed by ‘Growing Power’, for year round produce, making locally grown food that exceeds certified organic standards available at local farmer’s markets. Our partnership with ‘Growing Power’ will specialize in providing a youth development program and allotment plots for the community, supported with training and education workshops and events.

**NYC Community Gardens

http://www.oasisnyc.net/gardens/resources.htm

–Creative Little Garden

http://www.creativelittlegarden.org/

Located at 530 East Sixth Street, between Avenues A & B, the Creative Little Garden has been an oasis of tranquility in New York’s East Village for 25 years. It’s a “community backyard,” maintained by volunteers from the surrounding neighborhood. There are no plots tended by individual gardeners, instead members collaborate on the landscaping of the whole park. Everyone, not only members, can relax, read, have lunch, work on your laptop or just enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of our garden…or you can hold a scheduled private event.

–M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden

www.mkgarden.org

‘Communal backyard’ for those who live in the area. The M’Finda Kalunga Garden means “Garden at the Edge of the Other Side of the World” in the Kikongo language. It is named in memory of the “second” African American burial ground that was located on nearby Chrystie Street between Rivington and Stanton Streets in NYC.

–R.I.N.G. Garden, Manhattan

http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/~mclarke/RING.htm

Community volunteers of all ages and interests participate in a variety of activities. These include planting of annuals and spring bulbs, dividing perennials, pruning shrubs and trees, erosion control, landscaping, weeding, mulching, watering, vermin control, fertilizing, lawn care, and pond care among others. With our compost bins, we have been producing new organic-rich soil using our own yard waste and residential food waste. Recent special projects in the garden have included a fish pond ecosystem with a solar-powered waterfall and self-contained stream.

–Master Peace farm+school+community garden

http://www.dc-urban-gardener-news.com/community_gardens/

Located in Riverdale, Maryland, a garden established by U-Maryland’s Cooperative Extension Service as part of their food stamp nutrition education program.  The overall resounding goal for the garden is to “grow relationships”.

–Hill East Community Garden, D.C.

http://www.hilleastgarden.org/

What was once an overgrown, neglected plot of land in an alley has now become a thriving community garden thanks to the members of the East Capital Hill neighborhood.

–Clagett Farm, MD

http://www.clagettfarm.org/

Clagett Farm is a working farm, owned and operated by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. At the farm we grow vegetables for our Community Supported Agriculture program, raise grass fed cattle and have a native tree nursery on more than 285 acres.Our vegetable production project called “From the Ground Up” a joint effort of the Capital Area Food Bank and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. We raise a wide variety of produce and strive to provide our food to people of all income levels. Almost half of our produce is distributed free or at reduced prices to underserved communities in Washington D.C.

–American Community Gardening Association

http://www.communitygarden.org/

–Cornell Garden-Based Learning

http://blogs.cornell.edu/garden/

An extension of the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University, provides an outlet for youth and adults through community activities.

–University of California—How-to

http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/garden/articles/startup_guide.html

Schafer’s project takes place in the St. Pauli neighborhood of Hamburg, Germany during what was called the Hafenstrasse struggle. Park Fiction emerged as an approach to redefine spaces for everyday use. At this same time that the Park Fiction began, new media companies were attempting to construct a block of buildings in Hamburg that would ultimately obstruct St. Pauli’s last view of the harbor. Citizens were unhappy and desired a park in the location instead. A campaign ensued to get the park built that included park-related exhibitions and lectures to engage the public. Years of back-and-forth between opposing groups followed but the desired park finally came to fruition. Most interesting were the primary art components of the space: “The Palm Tree Island” and the “Flying Carpet.” These functional pieces are visually interesting as well as useful for the visitors. Due to the creation of such a space, visitors came to the park that one would not normally see. What I found most interesting was Schafer’s discussion of how reproducible such a project may be in other locations. He maintains that local situations change too quickly for reproducibility to occur. However, because cities are built on ideas and imaginings of outsiders and migrants, Schafer contends that similar art projects are possible and may provide foundations for future cities and their inhabitants.

“Can Masdeu”

Can Masdeu is a mansion located in the hills of Barcelona, Spain that hosts a community of activists for maintaining the natural landscape. By staying at the Can Masdeu mansion—an ancient Romanesque building—the members became aware of the importance of water after encountering a scarcity at the site. They began to explore this by forging relationships with older members in the barrio who witnessed first-hand the abandonment and deterioration of the house and its surrounding gardens. The Can Masdeu clan created the Rising Tide Campaign in order to form an urban social center with rural principles aka a rurbano social center. The aim was to reverse the invasion of the city and to repair the house and cultivate the gardens. Following an eviction fight and lingering legal issues, the Can Masdeu project focused on their initial goals. Their key project was the community garden which gained several followers and brought the community closer. The group also began environmental workshops to inform those in the area of all ages.

All of these articles hold the commonality of teamwork, cooperation, and strength in numbers. None of these projects would have been possible with only one person, all have had followers and support to gain some clout for their proposed cause. Each of these stories are unique and inspiring in their own right and really opened my eyes to the wide range of art and possibilities in the community context.

“City Repair”

Chaordic (“chaotically ordered”)—hands-on and interactive decision-making to keep power and authority evenly dispersed throughout the group which yields more creative results.

“Placemaking”—creation of a place whose structure and use is determined by the people living in that place

Based in Portland, Oregon, The City Repair Project is a non-profit organization that converted a street intersection into a public square in an effort to initiate a more-community oriented society; localization of culture and economy is then vital for this to occur.

Workshops, events, spaces for hosting meetings, sponsored causes to wide-spread messages—all of these aspects are geared toward building a community-oriented neighborhood and appeals to several.

I really enjoyed the concept of the intersection repair as cities are generally characterized by anonymity and personal connections to surroundings or other individuals seem to be rarely made. This provides an opportunity for this type of bonding to take place as well as a “reclaim[ing] of identities.” Not only does this provide an outlet for social interaction but the City Repair Project also sought to beautify the environment and reduce crime rates to improve the area overall.

The process in constructing such public/community-oriented squares was very democratic as all involved or affected by the project were encouraged to contribute ideas. The community then holds the decision-making power as long as they cooperate and work together.

Most notably, The Sunnyside Piazza demonstrates how such projects better the community in not only creating a beautiful gathering space but also by reducing crime—in this case, drug issues—and building social networking opportunities. Most interesting proved to be the painted sunflower marking the intersection. The pattern of the flower is geometric and organic simultaneously and employs bright colors to provide a break-up of the monotony that is just pavement. In addition to the flower, other artwork was displayed in a designated art-wall space providing an outlet for community artists. This overall positive outcome is inspiring for artists and community members alike. It is this type of cooperation that would lend C-U community garden projects similar success and progress.

“The Resource Center”

The author immediately asserts the advantages of urban agriculture including employment opportunities, an improvement in nutrition, and a coming-together of community members involved in achieving this mission. The Resource Center, based in Chicago, runs City-Farm that has avoided mainstream culture and economies to create its own, namely by producing its own food. In managing one’s own food production, waste is eliminated, nutrition improved, and the economy becomes more localized. Not to mention the positive environmental impact as chemical farming can be harmful to the planet.

Dunn does note that city funding is crucial as start-up costs for transforming a vacant lot into useable farmland are high. However, once made into productive land, the farms become self-sustaining. If expanded on a wider-scale, the positive outcomes of city farms would be numerous: a sizeable increase in jobs and food production, waste reduction and environmental improvements, and an overall community-oriented experience. With economic and environmental issues currently plaguing our nation, innovative ideas such as City Farm seem to be plausible solutions to these problems. Community gardens in our area should take note of The Resource Center’s approaches as cities and towns of all sizes could greatly benefit from such projects.

“A garden where plants and people flourish.” This quote seems to best capture the essence of the Belltown P-Patch garden that sought to provide an outlet for community members of all social and economic backgrounds to gather and interact. Geise discusses in her article the Growing Vine Street project in which the full eight blocks were claimed and how the community joined together for the Belltown project. The GVS consisted of several different projects while an overall design concept was being developed and after presenting to different committees in the Seattle area, the idea began to take hold. The city soon recognized the project as an approach to urban storm water solutions taken up by the community. Geise describes the project as gradual and at times difficult yet hopes the Belltown projects will continue to thrive and incite the public to become more involved in their community. Most interesting to me were the proposals for redirecting storm drainage and how such an urban concept was transformed into a creative process. An issue of street design became an opportunity for creating a storm water treatment infrastructure.

Artist Buster Simpson shares his experiences and observations while working in a studio near Post Alley which was also intersected by Vine Street. Other artists in the Belltown area collaborated in the First Avenue Streetscape Project in what became a laboratory for urban design. Their first project consisted of constructing seating areas at bus stops. The “ready-made” solution, which was essentially stone remnants from a quarry, proved to be within the city budget and served as benches for those waiting at the bus stops. More projects were developed including the Urban Arboretum and the Skyway Seedbank. The latter is my favorite. It consists of a unique landscape located on the rooftop of the abandoned Skyway Luggage Factory. Parts of the seedbank that hosted a variety of different grasses and mosses were then put into suitcases and became “portable landscapes.” Additionally, Simpson acknowledged that these suitcases became symbols or representations of the shifting demographic in the community. It is this type of functional art that seems most appealing to me. That the suitcases were hosting various sections of this landscape while simultaneously serving as an artistic interpretation up for grabs is unique and refreshing. As the community evolves and the urban environment is vulnerable to the elements, so then is the artwork. This aspect then causes the project to develop and progress with the city while also acquiring and accumulating new and relevant meanings to the community members and artists alike.

Part 1: An image archive of community gardening. Looking at existing images of community gardens, what can we learn about how they are conceptualized in broader cultural terms. This should take the form of available digital images and clipping/copies/scans of printed material. We can think about, for example, how a community garden is distinct from both larger farming practices and yard-gardens (such as the World War era Victory Gardens).

Part 2: Mapping existing forms of urban gardening, and places of relevance to this idea (e.g. sites you think might be a good location for a community garden), in the Champaign-Urbana area. Create a Google map for plotting these sites. Where/when possible, document these places in photographs as well.

Part 3: Using the material produced in parts 1 & 2, produce a series of original images (these can be done through drawing, painting, collage/montage, digitally) that envisions community garden spaces in Champaign-Urbana. These images can be wildly speculative (e.g. imaginary gardens that don’t currently exist) and/or quasi-documentary (telling stories about current gardens through pictures), they can even be imaginative forms of maps. Minimum sizes: on paper no smaller than standard letter size; digital images should be 800×600 pixels or larger.

Where to start? Check out some of the links and other resources on the Community Garden project page.

Timeline/Deadline?
Let’s shoot for a minimum of 30 images from at least 10 sources for the archive by June 22. And the map should be started in the next 2 weeks. At least 5 original images should be completed by July 6. Images can be scanned and uploaded either here or to a photosharing site (such as flickr).

“The Belltown P-Patch and Cottage Park”/ “The Spot”

The intersection of Vine Street and Elliot Avenue in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood hosts a community garden and city park known as the P-Patch and Cottage Park which became the focus of several different artists and community members in maintaining such a space in an urban arena.

Glenn MacGilvra provides some historical background of the P-Patch and the wooden cottages; Katherine Shedd—who used to run a vegetable stand at Pike Place Market—recruited two of her friends that happened to be artists—Buster Simpson and Carl Smool—and they began to take advantage of the backyards of these cottages by planting vegetables, creating paths, and adding decorations in the late 1980’s. Later, an informal group called The Friends of P-Patch who lobbied for the program to use the lot for a community space. The project became successful and became an almost living exhibit for artists and the community; mosaics, stone paths, and other decorations adorned the garden sanctuary. Unfortunately, an unclaimed lot became a problem as the owner decided to sell the area and The Friends of P-Patch soon had to worry about building development occurring in their community space and rallied to prevent this. The solution: the city offered to purchase the lot and make it a park. Agreeing on what the park should include—namely the cottages—proved another issue. The city agreed to keep the cottages in place yet it was another project to renovate them in order to make them liveable. Fundraisers help to provide the money to renovate and landscape the cottages and the project was a collective community effort.

This article was very interesting in seeing the process and labor of those involved with P-Patch and Cottage Park. Most amazing was the communal efforts of the Belltown area in addition to the artists and other Seattle sponsors. It provides an outlet for the community to gather and artists to be creative and productive in a different mode while being in an urban area. The space then serves as a safe haven but because of the community involvement it seems that it has become a part of the Belltown neighborhood itself. I think such a project is positive and innovative for a community such as Belltown and is possible in other urban areas such as Champaign-Urbana. Community gardens/parks could provide a creative vehicle for artists and community members while also taking advantage of our natural surroundings; not to mention the positive impact it would have on the environment by encouraging the cultivation of seasonal fruits and vegetables and thus reducing garbage and waste.

“The Spot” chronicles the first residence of Cottage Park, Brett Bloom and his experiences and observations with those in the garden space. In journal form, Blooms observations include several occurrences of people drinking, urinating, defecating or even having sex in “the spot.” These types of activities are frowned upon and actions are being taken by the P-Patch members to prevent them. Bloom describes the concept of “aggressive gardening” in which the plot design makes it difficult to hide these illicit occurrences. It is unfortunate that this abuse or “misuse” of the garden, as Bloom calls it, is even an issue but it seems somewhat unavoidable in a public space. Efforts can be made to inhibit these by the design and layout of the space or by warning those with possible legal consequences to provide a safer and cleaner area for the community. With this overall project, I could not help but think of the possibilities for hosted events and other opportunities for community involvement. This could include exhibitions for all types of artists, professional and students alike. Picnics, field days, or even a public market akin to a farmer’s market could be hosted in such a space. Not only would this involve several different types of community areas and members but it would also lend itself to prevent the types of illicit activities that Brett Bloom was concerned about. As with any project, funding and maintenance would be an issue but would also provide opportunities for those in the area to get involved. Campustown in Champaign-Urbana could provide the funding and support not to mention volunteers for maintenance and for hosting events. The possibilities seem endless and the responses, I believe, would be positive overall.