Happy birthdays!

It’s the birthday of the USA, and it’s one year since I launched the Green Zone website.

What a difference a year makes. We have a new president, and there’s a thriving vegetable garden on the grounds of the White House.

New gardens are sprouting everywhere! A brand-new community garden in Davis Park, a new garden in the works for the Davey Lopes Rec Center in South Providence, and a bunch of new school gardens here and there. And so many first-time backyard growers, too.

In the Summit neighborhood, there are flowerboxes full of vegetables on porches, and so many people have dug up their front lawns to plant ornamentals or grow their own food.

I spied this brand new neighborhood garden in Mt. Hope (3 top photos). Neighbors have taken over an empty lot. Guerrilla gardeners? Dig the ankle high dry-laid stone wall and the badminton court, not to mention the used-tire composter. And not far away is the MLK School Garden, which looks on target to harvest A LOT of delicious vegetables.

On this Independence Day, get independent.  In a pot or in a plot, grow your own food.

Hang on!

I’ve got a lot of things to write about. . .soon. In the meantime, make like this green guy I saw hanging off the pea trellis in my backyard garden. Yup, he’s a man made of pea tendrils.

Tonight catch a screening of “Taking Root, the Vision of Wangari Maathai.” It’s the kick-off for a new community garden at the Davey Lopes Rec. Center in Providence.

The invitation says: “This powerful documentary film tells the inspiring story of  Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner who is internationally recognized for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace.  Wangari founded the Green Belt Movement in Kenya Africa with women whose simple act of planting trees and food gardens grew into a nationwide movement to protect human rights and defend democracy.”

The event is free, and there will be refreshments (home-made ginger beer, lemonade, farm-fresh salad, and apples).

Where: Davey Lopes Recreation Center, 227 Dudley St, Providence
When: 5:30pm

Seed Swap Sunday!

My vacation from Prov became a vacation from blog. And then working in my garden became a vacation from the blog. To get back in the grind and on the grid, I want to let you know about:

Fox Point Community Garden seed swap
Sunday June 7th from 4-5:30pm
Gano Street Park, Providence

Says Christie, the garden coordinator: “come by and swap some seeds, share some advice, and get to know your fellow gardeners.”

Sounds good to me…I just dug up some irises.  Plus I have some volunteer tomatoes and dill, and some other flowers from seed to share. On the lookout for parsley, cilantro, and what have you. I don’t have a plot at Fox Point, but like many community gardens, the gardeners there are tremendously proud of their work, delighted to give tours, and happy to connect with other local gardeners. See you there!

Green Swap: take it and leave it

Lookit: standing outside the RISD store on the River-Side.

It’s an ongoing garden swap, kind of along the lines of those book/magazine racks outside T stops in Boston (Do these still exist?) Take some plants/seeds/garden equipment, and leave some plants/seeds/garden equipment in return.

I left some volunteer dill and violets and took some garden gloves. Wonder what will be there next?

Brown dog is provided for scale. See the bronze plaque hovering above the cabinet? That marks how high the flood waters reached following the 1938 hurricane.

Time to plant! Southside Community Land Trust’s plant sale and the Youth Pride plant sale are this weekend. Get your baby vegetables, raised with tender loving care, and assist some great causes, too.

Providence Farm City

Apologies to KISS…

Yesterday, I went to a meeting for Providence’s Urban Agriculture Task Force. Launched 4-5 years ago, it’s a confederation of state, local, non-profit, and individual representatives. Some of the projects initiated and/or completed by members include:

• installing new community gardens around the city, including sites at Sessions St. Park, Early St, Davis Park, Pearl St., Riverside Park, and more
• introducing urban agriculture in community planning meetings, the Mayor’s Green plan, and the Providence Comprehensive Plan
• launching a citywide Community Gardens Network
• developing strategies to integrate food gardens with affordable housing
• holding 50-mile meals at Mount Hope Farm, Local 121, and Providence College
• creating the RI Farm To School Project to connect local farms with school lunch programs
• planning an edible landscape (an orchard!) in Locust Grove Cemetery
• working with the RI Dept of Health and Statewide Planning to ensure that urban agriculture is in local comprehensive plans
• preparing a series of reports on Providence Urban Agriculture

Amazing projects in Providence and beyond. And more to come. If you want to get involved, contact the UATF via Southside Community Land Trust.

In the zone

Thanks to everyone who stopped by Firehouse 13 last night for Green Zones: From the War Garden to Your Garden and the first-ever Urban Ag Spring Start Party.

The talks and discussion went over really well, and the seed-swapping table was hopping.  I got a chance to connect with gardeners, historians, and gardening historians from all over.

A spring party was a great outlet for gardeners with seeds, plants, and stories to share. As RI’s food gardening network continues to grow, imagine another garden event this fall?!?!?!?!

Today: Urban Agriculture Revival!

All the vegetables are ready to rumble at Firehouse 13 (41 Central Street, Providence).

Start at 5:30pm with Green Zones: From the War Garden to Your Garden. Check out 3 presentations on past and present gardening movements, and join the discussion.

Then at 7:30pm, it’s the first-ever Urban Ag Spring Start Party. Seed-swapping, plant-swapping, sharing info about garden and green groups, meeting other gardeners, etc. It’s a potluck, so bring a dish…as well as your seeds and plants to share.

Let’s start the spring together!

Container gardening-or-Yoohoo, UAU

The UAU (that’s Urban Agricultural Unit) recently moved to a new home on the grounds of Wolcott Eco-Office on Wolcott Street in Providence. Part large-scale recycling effort and part science fair project, the UAU is a mobile greenhouse constructed from a discarded shipping container. You may remember it from its appearances at ProvFlux or from its long-time residency at the Steelyard.

Plans are forming for the growing season at UAU’s new home. Perhaps some hops climbing up its corrugated metal walls and some native landscaping plants and some veggies and herbs growing inside.  Word is that its hydroponic set-up allows you to grow basil from a seed to a plant the size of a kindergartner in four weeks.

I get a kick out of the fact that this giant shipping container–duly labeled, see below–is now the ultimate container garden.

If you would like to learn more about the UAU or would like to be part of the team that is planning its rebirth, contact Anna or stop by the Urban Ag Spring Start Party that’s part two of the Green Zones event on May 5.  Thanks to the UAU crew for helping out with posters, posting, music, and more.

Green thoughts on garden plots

Brown University’s Center for Environmental Studies not only hosts a community garden for staff, students, and neighbors, but it also supports scholarship on gardening. Two Environmental Studies grad students are studying the impact of local food gardening. They are defending their masters theses next week, and the public is invited to attend.

Monday, April 13th at noon
Marie-Laure Couët on “Strengthening Providence with Community Gardens”

Tuesday, April 14 at 10am
Nora Buckman on “The Grass isn’t Greener: Exploring the Motivations and Barriers to Home Gardening in Rhode Island”

Both presentations take place at the Urban Environmental Lab, 135 Angell Street.  Visit the garden if you stop by.

Green Zones Event…and Urban Ag Spring Start?

Check out the updated page for Green Zones: From the War Garden to Your Garden, a presentation on Victory Gardens, the Women’s Land Army of America, and how/why gardeners are growing their own food today. The event takes place on Tues., May 5, starting at 5:30pm at Firehouse 13, 41 Central St. in Providence.

A plan is stirring to hold an Urban Agriculture Spring Start Party afterwards. This will include seed/plant swapping, exchanging ideas, food, music, and kicking off the garden season together.

Community gardeners, backyard gardeners, local foodies, green folks, farmers, teachers, kids. . .can you help out with this emerging event?  Contact me at szurier at wesleyan dot edu or leave a comment, and I’ll be in touch.